


Not All Those Wounded Will Bleed.

by SS98



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Harry, Alpha Marcus, Angst, Bottom Louis, Dominant Edward, Dominant Harry, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Hybrid Louis, Innocent Louis, Knotting, M/M, Master Edward, Mates, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Mpreg Louis, Multi, Omega Louis, Possessive Behaviour, Post-Apocalypse, Protective Edward, Protective Harry, Protective Marcus, Rut, Rutting, Smut, Soul Bond, Submissive Louis, Swearing, Threesome - M/M/M, Top Edward, Top Harry, Trigger Warnings, Vampire Edward, Violence, Voyeurism, Werewolf Harry, Werewolf Louis, Werewolf Mates, Werewolves, YO NO MARCEL, possessive Edward, sort of, what have I done?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-10-11 08:22:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10460202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SS98/pseuds/SS98
Summary: Some do not believe in the oldest magic in the way that others do; but unto each is the right to their free will until the darkness befalls them.*    *    *“Omega.” Harry chastises, glancing away with the first glimmer of insecurity. His clenched jaw is indicative of the inner rage he is struggling to withhold. “Stop studying me.”Louis brings his hand up and cups Harry’s left cheek carefully, brushing his thumb over the bothered Alpha’s sharp jawline. “You get to study me whenever you please, Alpha.”*    *    *Edward’s hand seized Louis’ and he kissed the boy’s knuckles. “If I do not come to you here when you think of me, then I am being kept from you.”“How can that be possible?” Louis felt danger at his back when there was none, but his dream was slowly melting from a forest to sheer darkness. Looking at Edward, it frightened him to face emptiness without preparation.“I don’t know yet, but we will find out soon.” Edward disappears along with the last flickers of pale trees and Louis wakes with a loud gasp.





	1. I

Harry has the most meeting of his life in twenty minutes and he is doing none other than stalling the entire process. His parents could dictate his lifestyle and force him into this agonizing duty of taking the position as Alpha but they could not interrupt while he paced in his private bedroom. The responsibility of running their bloodline pack has always sat on Harry’s shoulders and he was thrilled up until the reality of mating dared speak its own name. Harry fought tooth and nail to escape it but his mother was much too gentle with her words that he’d rather sever an arm than raise his voice at her.

An Alpha is complete when he has taken a mate before the pack and announced his Bond through the presence of a crimson tattoo across his chest. Harry thought he ordeal to be primitive and unworthy of his thoughts until now when the same burden stood hulking before him. He knows his place as an heir and dominant member of their race when it comes to caring for a mate or defending them, but the more _intimate_ details made Harry shudder. The Alpha’s son has not shared his bed with another for the sake of protecting his den but now that will be ripped apart to let a stranger reside in his most private space.

He unleashed a much too gruesome snarl when someone’s heavy knocking disrupted his delaying process, but Harry knew there would be no winning unless he embraced this prospect. The individual on the other side was his future Beta and best friend, Liam, who was as smug as can be when Harry shouldered past him to barrel down the hallway in a fierce wall of aggravated muscle. He called after the Alpha and jogged to keep up when they entered the outdoors.

“Your mother’s already met-” Liam is cut off by Harry’s threatening growl. He laughs under his breath and follows silently after that to the packhouse where the meeting must take place.

Harry pushes aside one too many of his pack brothers that Liam apologises heartlessly to on their way to the Alpha’s study. Somewhere between the foyer and the grand staircase does Harry’s senses come ablaze with the sweetest scent trailing through the air. His legs briefly pause so his head may tilt back to breathe more of the honey-tinted, warm aroma of purity that wafts through the packhouse. An unprecedented grumble falls from his lips in appreciation until it escalates in volume enough to rattle the lower level windows.

Forgetting the meeting and any purpose behind it, Harry follows his instinct toward the source of the wonderful smell. With dilated pupils that turn his eyes pitch black, the Alpha grows possessed by such a foreign and innocent scent. He barges into his father’s study and studies those present.

“Harry.” His mother stands from her seat by the glowing fire and smiles at her only son, gesturing with a wide arm to someone in the centre of the room.

What she says after is drowned out because Harry has zeroed in on his target and the one intended for him is no one else. He hears a gasp when something delicate brushes his shoulder on his mission across the room to the double doors of the library. Someone, his father, calls for him and he ignores it. The scent is growing stronger and blinding in its taste on his tongue now. Harry shoves the library doors open and his chest erupts in a deep, unrelenting growl.

Someone, the only other one present, is nobody he could possibly have seen before. He stares at the perfect silhouette leaping off the platform before historical fiction and approaching him cautiously, nervously. Harry struggles to clear his blurry, possessed vision until the stranger is right in front of him and their opalescent eyes look up at him. Their scent is wild and maddening, one that dictates Harry’s outrageous behaviour.

They’re speaking and Harry cannot hear a word for he is transfixed by the depth of their blue orbs belonging to a pair of sweet, pink lips. Skin so pale but glowing rosily from within sealed this Omega’s delightful treasures. A sinfully petite figure produced gently rounded hips and a prominent figure that should not be so perfect on a male, yet is anyway. Nature built this creature to be Harry’s nemesis and the one to make him kneel. His hair was light, feathery and swept over his head in a neat chestnut pile that Harry leaned forward absentmindedly to sniff.

His target gasped and leapt backward but only to have the Alpha seize him more firmly. Harry warned the precious creature with a less than modest caress down the curve of his back, stopping only when his arm could wind around the other’s hips.

“Harry, son?” A firm hand clapped the Alpha’s shoulder and tugged him away from the spellbinding other.

Harry heard nothing of what was being spoken to him but he did notice when he was being restrained by more than three other pack brothers. He nearly tore through them but had been tossed to the ground and held down by the strongest among them. It brought great pride and pain to witness something like conflict and longing in the other creature’s eyes as well. The sight fuelled his resolve until someone was groaning after the snap of their shoulder and Harry was dragged away, snarling and violently resisting, by five of their fighters. A howl filled the air, one that comes from his hoarse throat, and is filled with yearning. He sees the one his wolf has chosen being closed behind the library doors and his inner beast withers at the whine that is cut off from them as well.

“Harry!” A hand slaps him and Harry looks at the abominable other with a vicious curl of his lip, baring his sharp teeth in hostility. His mother did nothing in fear. “I am sorry, son. Louis is not yours.”

The response was unacceptable. Harry thought of those beautiful baby blues and growled lowly, causing the library doors to tremble and another pitiful whimper to seep through the crevices from _Louis._

“Easy, Alpha. Easy.” Harry’s father caught his son by the collar and forced him into attentiveness. The sound he produced, a dominant imposing placation on another, was challenged by Harry’s thunderous roar. “If I let you go you will take him. That cannot happen.”

“Perhaps we should allow it.” Harry’s mother spoke to her mate, witnessing her son’s tragedy as if it were her own. “He has reacted too strongly to the boy.”

The pack leader sighs. “Louis is not the mate we chose.”

“But it is the one our son has chosen, and his wolf.” Harry’s mother walked up to her boy and slapped those hands restraining his lapels away. She saw the bloodthirstiness in Harry’s gaze, his eyes trained on the doors behind her. “We will apologise to the girl’s family but he’s my only son, love. I won’t ask him to be unhappy with his mate.”

An Alpha will not respond to merely their intended mate so fiercely and with such pre-existing passion as Harry did. Harry’s parents agreed on the estranged but still honourable circumstance before them. The packhouse was cleared of everyone except Harry’s father and until the door was shut, he did not release the other Alpha. He felt those straining arteries bulging through flushed skin as Harry struggled to not break free, and after a kiss to his forehead he was at last allowed to.

Harry’s father winced at the crash of his furniture when his son stormed through the study and hurled an oak desk aside to reach the doors. He managed to lock the doors during his exit but not after estimating his repair fees to be extensive.

The library doors swung back on their hinges and smacked into the door until they cracked right down the middle. Harry took a wild, blind moment to locate who he came for before even frozen time could not stop him. He was allowed to claim his prize and he’s going to instantly. The Alpha found Louis beside the window, peering up at him without an inch of anxiety. He had his shirt off miraculously and slipped his hands under the boy’s sweater to tweak his nipples.

Such soft, warm flesh teased him under Harry’s palms. He picked his mate up by his thighs and let him fall onto the couch before crawling over him. It was frenzied and Harry remembers fighting off many of his instincts in trying to not claw through Louis’ clothes. He hiked the boy’s shirt up and buried his face in the dip of his belly, sinking his teeth into the skin without hesitation. Louis mewled, small hands fisting Harry’s curls, and the Alpha smelt his arousal.

As crazed as a wolf could become, Harry proved them all inadequate when he ripped his pants off in a mad hurry and pulled Louis’ underwear off. He needed their bodies to be joined and there was no need for preparation if the sweet promise of slick remained as abundant. Louis was dripping all over the sofa cushions, his thighs and lower abdomen turning damp with his wetness. Harry took a moment to hide his face between the softest thighs his calloused fingers ever gripped, and tasted the delectable release with wicked flicks of his tongue.

There was no shame in the deep and untamed rendering of an immediate Bond anymore when mates united so desperately less and less often. Passion was slowly waning in their race and Harry least expected himself to possess such ardent desires for a stranger. It seemed as if they had known each other’s body in perfect synchronicity and were merely awaiting the moment they’d earn to inflict pleasure on the other.

Louis made all the right sounds and bucked his hips for more but also less as the sensations drove him mad. Harry kicked his legs open and dove into the sweaty column of his neck when he thrusted into the boy’s awaiting body. He growled, loud and brave to the ceiling, as his length delved into Louis’ tightness and he panted with the delicious heat. Teeth bared, Harry immediately started to move until his rhythm was desperate and slapping against Louis’ skin carelessly. He cared for his mate by licking his skin and rubbing his scalp but Harry always wavered in those tasks as he dug his nails into the couch and thrusted deeper, harder.

Beneath him the most gorgeous little wolf lay, brokenly gasping with bubble-gum lips and sweet noises. Harry palmed the roundness of his behind, pulling him closer as he pistoned his hips until his girth began to expand and Louis was scratching his back in need of a knot. The Omega was breath-taking during his orgasm and Harry burned the image of his pleasured visage into his eyelids, inhaling their mated scent as his knot popped and his jaws throbbed with the need to mark. He heard the soft puncture of skin as he chose his spot to bite, and nibbled on the healing scar afterward.

Harry found Louis’ lips blindly and laid several kisses upon them, his wolf apologetically pressing affectionate nips on the Omega’s skin. He tugged on the other male’s lower lip before sucking it in between both of his and revelling in his claiming scent. Their aromas combine and extend to both their bodies, bringing them together as one. Louis whined when Harry started petting his sides and licking over his newly acquired bite mark, displaying it proudly to his Alpha above him.

“H-Hi.” Louis shudders as another wave of release comes from his Alpha inside him and he blinks dreamily up at the flawless man slowly relaxing between his thighs.

Harry smirks, glides his palms down Louis’ hairless thighs to his knees and hikes them up over his back. He nuzzles his nose against Louis’. “Sweet Omega, hello.”

Louis reaches up and frames either side of Harry’s face in his hands, tilting his head back to peck the Alpha’s chin. He wraps his arms around his mate’s neck so he may direct the man’s lips to his neck again. “It’s um- It’s nice to meet you.”

A chuckle falls from Harry’s pursed lips and he cradles the back of Louis’ skull in his wide palm, scratching lightly at the Omega’s scalp. He kisses a tender trail up Louis’ neck to the back of his ear and continues to knead the Omega’s bottom possessively. His knot is snug in Louis’ body and the intoxicating need to claim his mate has temporarily dimmed.

“Have I frightened you?” Harry rests his forehead against Louis’ and looks into those marvellous midnight blue eyes, wanting to drown in them.

Louis shakes his head, whining in discontent when Harry pulls away. The Alpha returns almost instantly, but after finding a shirt of his to pull onto the boy.

“So brave, sweet Omega. I admire that.” Harry admires the Omega in his over-sized flannel. He sat up and pulled Louis by the collar comfortably onto his lap. “How old are you?”

“Nineteen.” Louis grins naively, proud of such a small fact and the youth it encompasses. Purity such as that which belongs to this Omega is truly rare in Harry’s pack.

For Harry, something like darkness dawns on his expression. “I am thirty-two, little one.”

“What’s your name, Alpha?” Louis asks casually, surprising Harry with his casual demeanour when the Alpha predicted disgust at their age difference.

“Harry Styles, little one. I know your first name to be Louis but what’s your last name?”

“Tomlinson.” Louis props his elbows on Harry’s shoulders and tries not to shift his lower half during his efforts to become more comfortable. His now Alpha finds his trial amusing and assists him mildly to a suitable position astride his thighs. “What happened earlier between us, Harry?”

The Alpha took Louis’ hand and kissed the centre of his palm. “What do you mean, little one?”

“It was weird.” Louis starts, his stunning facial features twisting in the confusion of his memories. He chews on his swollen lip and Harry stares at the red cushions, fixated. “It was like there was nothing concerning me besides you. We haven’t even met before and I thought it was going to be the worst kind of pain to be kept from you.”

Harry finds his Omega’s words most flattering and so does his wolf. He leans into the touch when Louis’ knuckles caress his cheek. “The mating craze is a fairly old consequence, occurring only when true mates meet for the first time. I never believed it to be true until I felt it with you.”

“True mates?”

“You are so innocent, little one.” Harry smiles at his mate, brushing Louis’ fringe back and finding new naked skin to grace with faint brushes from his lips. “I will teach you all you need to know about our pack once you’ve become more settled.”

“Harry.” Louis’ guilt shone evidently in his gaze and troubled Harry with their authenticity. “I was not supposed to be the one mating tonight. My parents expect me home when my pack returns.”

Harry captured his beautiful Omega’s hips, worry flooding his system along with the bitterness of anger as it turned to molten rage. Imagining Louis leaving him made Harry’s blood boil and his wolf was ablaze with multiple strategies to forcibly keep this Omega here. “An Omega belongs to their mate, not their parents.”

This response seemed to bother Louis and something flickered across his expression. “I love my parents, Harry, and I will always be their son no matter where I’m mated and to whom. Please respect them.”

Harry’s wolf is no less of a monster than he is when cornered by the wrong forces and therefore seethes a response that only frightens Louis. His voice is a low, temperamental growl. “Little one, any who seek to take what is mine is none but my enemy.”

“That’s my parents, Harry.” Louis, the fireball packed into a delicious package, punches Harry’s pectoral and it displays such ferocity that the Alpha’s heart is captured in his fist. “You’ll be the one taking me from them.”

“Careful, little one.” Harry condescends, capturing Louis’ dainty wrist and pecking his knuckles. He peers up at the furious little Omega with a chuckle. “I would not like for these paws of yours to be bruised in combat.”

Louis yanked back his arm and pouted at the skin that was just previously united with Harry’s lips. He escaped when Harry tried to reengage him in the embrace of his arms and the dodged Alpha was brutally offended. Harry growled, a passive warning to the wayward Omega, and recaptured him firmly in the fold of his arms.

“I have not met your parents but I do know one thing about them.” Harry’s closed eyes help to amplify the scent of his mate now as he nuzzled the boy’s throat from a side angle. “They could bring each wolf in their pack and it would be insufficient in parting you and me.”

The Omega regards Harry with a new sense of uncertainty, his head tilted just noticeably to the side and his lips in a thin, pink line. “Would you really be so mean to our traditions?”

“Of course not.” Harry took Louis’ hands and kissed his fingertips with a sobered smile. He felt his knot beginning to subside and soften where it lay nestled in Louis’ tight, delectable body. “Have you word of any traditions I must adhere to?”

Louis wiggled with a deceptively seductive nibble on his lip as he got comfortable on Harry’s tense lap. He set his hands on Harry’s pectoral and pushed himself up, straightening his curved spine while his mesmerized Alpha grew more and more obsessed with the sight before him. Sweet lips twisted in a muffled yawn and a soft sound crept out from Louis’ throat in a minutely high pitch.

“I was only supposed to accompany my friend to meet you.” Louis’ cheeks flushed bright pink with embarrassment and he giggles unabashedly when his Alpha lightly tickles his sides to lighten his mood. “Now, I guess they have some strange news to look forward to.”

“I must take you to my home.” Harry rubs his cheek against Louis’ in an effort to find a warm crevice to burrow into. “It’s your home now, little one.”

Louis hums, cracking the stubborn knots in his back at the pained expense of his Alpha who can only watch and not touch. His form is a sinful combination of petite and indelicate, simultaneously a wonder to be guarded and one that can protect itself. Harry observed Louis’ usual rosy complexion return to the heat of his skin, the faintest of freckles across his nose and one shoulderblade. Louis has a slender figure, built in the ideal frame of an Omega with some feminine features at his hips and thighs. Harry all but salivated at the memory of being between them.

“Will you carry me through the threshold?” Louis raises his hips and Harry’s length is extricated from him, leaving the Alpha to feel without warmth from all in the universe.

“There was once a time when Omegas could demand nothing from their Alphas.” He pounces on his mate before Louis has gotten the chance to settle once more. Harry pulls himself up between Louis’ legs and flattens his Omega against the squeaking cushions, his torso like a reverberating engine that filled the library with his restless growls.

An Alpha is _possessive_ after they knot an Omega and following their union with a chosen mate, such affection is only worsened. Harry and his inner wolf would rather shed blood than be separated from Louis so soon.

Louis laughs momentarily while the beast above him finds some ease, running his palms along Harry’s broad arms to his elbows and upward again to his shuddering shoulders. The Alpha displays his muscle and physical prowess with pride to the boy who marvels at his strength. Harry is a worthy and competent mate who deserves the recognition from his Omega but is puzzled when Louis stops his ministrations to lie back, nonchalant.

“Am I not impressive enough for you, Omega?” Harry sounds far more hostile than he intends, anger seeping into his words at the thought that his mate is ungrateful.

Nothing like fear taints Louis’ words when his sweet voice follows a light pout. “Do you think your body is all that should impress me?”

Harry almost allows his arrogant sneer to forsake any restriction; he has only ever dealt with Omegas who bowed like they should to his status and subsequent power over one of the greatest packs. His frown evolves from such dissatisfaction when he finds Louis watching him from below curiously, no outward expression being clearly visible to judge.

“Omega.” Harry chastises, glancing away with the first glimmer of insecurity. His clenched jaw is indicative of the inner rage he is struggling to withhold. “Stop studying me.”

Louis brings his hand up and cups Harry’s left cheek carefully, brushing his thumb over the bothered Alpha’s sharp jawline. “You get to study me whenever you please, Alpha.”

From Harry’s throat ensues a vile sound of aggravation that Louis feels a spear of fright from, and nearly jumps back to put space between him and the noise. He whimpers and hides from the threat by turning away, blocking his face with both his arms to guard against any violence that may follow. None of the kind happens for Harry may allow himself to become as infuriated as humanely possible but there are moral boundaries he would never surpass.

“Easy, little one. Easy.” Harry brings Louis out of his hiding with cautious handling, and regrets his earlier outburst. He lays a path of kisses to apologise for it along Louis’ pulse and the healed mating bite. Seeing those brilliantly illuminated blue eyes once more brings an odd flutter to Harry’s chest. “I’d never hurt you intentionally, little one. Never.”

Louis nods weakly and allows his Alpha to redirect his gaze where frightened cerulean may bear witness to the beastly wolf lurking behind a curtain of emerald. “Swear it?”

“Of course.” Harry’s brows knit together in his vow. “I will not raise a hand to you, my Omega, under order of the Gods or pain of death.”

Harry waits no longer to take Louis to his cabin, dreading the distance between the packhouse and his front door. He dresses his Omega in his shirt and jacket so that he goes bare on his upper body. Louis’ frame is devoured by the abundance of clothing he dons but he makes no meaningless complaints about it. It honours him greatly to wear his Alpha’s attire when his first time amongst his new pack is after such a strange ordeal; it allows him to feel defended silently against any foul judgement.

At the door to the packhouse Harry attempts to pick his Omega up, to disregard the latter’s burden of walking. Louis gasps and evades Harry’s paws as skilfully as he can until he’s backed against the giant double doors, looking up at the Alpha who has cornered him effectively.

“No, Harry.” Louis is not strong enough to continually battle Harry’s grander strength when the Alpha grabs for him in increasingly earnest attempts.

Impatience and frustration get the better of Harry; he bends over and clasps the backs of Louis’ thighs, throwing the Omega gently over his shoulder. “Be still, Omega. I need to bring you to my home.”

“I can _walk_ to your home, Harry.”

“There will be no need for such strain.” The Alpha muses, a firm hand reaching over to squeeze his Omega’s bottom. He almost gets lost once more in the scent a mildly aroused Omega exudes when they are with their mate, the one tasked with the dire responsibility of caring for them. “Now be still.”

“I want to walk.” Louis insists. “My new pack cannot see me so dependant.”

Harry only hitches Louis higher into a more comfortable position and gets to work unlocking the door, already aware of the familiar scents from other pack members set to guard the doors. He grows tense and lowers Louis to the ground again, pushing the Omega behind him while he peels back the doors and orders the other Alphas to disperse. They appear reluctant but Harry cannot feel Louis’ hands on his arm like before and threatens those others with a thunderous growl to silence their argument.

He slams the door shut again and turns around to find Louis wandering about the foyer, in awe of those artefacts Harry’s father kept about the packhouse. He was more glorious to look upon than any trophy and Alpha can come to possess and for a moment, Harry forgets his anger so he can observe Louis with his head tilted back and his breath-taking blue eyes lit up by intrigue. He is most certain that no other living creature has ever been as lucky as he is to mate Louis.

“This is you.” Louis stands before a framed painting taller than himself, one of Harry – the future Alpha of the _Te’lia_ _Woods_ pack – beside his parents looking indubitably stern. “Why are you so troubled?”

“I am not.” Harry comes up behind his mate, sauntering at a leisurely pace until he is near enough to encase Louis’ hips in his arms. He causes the boy to sway only slightly and Louis does not mind, for the weight against his back is only reassuring of safety.

“Don’t you know you’re supposed to smile for pictures?” Louis giggles when he teases the Alpha, and shamelessly falls prey to deeper laughter when the latter only grows more apparently strained. “Oh no. Have I offended you, Alpha?”

Harry regains much of his fallen pride when he smirks and sweeps Louis off the floor in a cradle, crushing the Omega to his chest as he made the trek to the door. “A delightfully little thing like you could never offend me.”

Louis does not fight this time when Harry tows him as a lounging weight out of the packhouse and into the vulnerability presented by being amongst the other pack members. Harry’s Omega displays no anxiety and is a sight for sore eyes as he leans back to watch the clouds in an abandonment that Harry envies. He was once as filled with time and innocence as well and it brings to mind the thought that Louis might have been a perfect companion through many years.

None other awaited them like Louis feared. Harry walked through dirt and on hard earth to reach the treeline with the lingering presence of other pack members waiting to make use of this space in which their future Alpha has forbidden them to enter temporarily. His mate is new to their ways and should not therefore be exposed to unfamiliar faces all at once. Harry may be possessive but he is also rational and letting Louis into a foreign area without him as a guard is barbaric.

The trees stand tall around them and eventually turn to swallow them between the bulking trunks so Harry may find a path of mud and decrepit twigs leading to his cottage. Louis places his palms on Harry’s bare chest and uses some misguided balance to twist his lower half. Throwing an arm around his Alpha’s neck allows Louis to manoeuvre into a position astride his hips.

“How are you so careless, little one?” Harry disapproves of the Omega’s unnecessary movement, although he thinly veils his surprise at discovering that Louis is so agile.

Louis has successfully gotten himself draped around Harry’s front, his thighs hooked on his Alpha’s hips and his back arched minutely to maintain his poor balance. While he is not entirely aware, Harry is unrelenting in his stare and is entirely enraptured by his mate. His focus ought to be not so simply distracted but he’s never had a lover before and wonders now if all mates feel as enchanted as he does with Louis. Purest and most ancient of magic, the bonding act is said to be, as it ties together souls irrevocably for all the lives they wish to live.

Harry has to get over a log and when he does, his boots are defeated by the freshwater of a stream on the other side. Louis looks about them and something catches his eye that is of little value to Harry’s care, for in an instant he is throwing himself to the ground and out of Harry’s embrace. The Alpha’s anger rips through him when Louis leaps through the air and in the brief moment of levitation his mate transforms elegantly from one form to another.

Louis’ wolf is not an image that has crossed Harry’s mind many a time for he has only begun to fawn over the lovely other. Now that the more delicate wolf stood before him on the log he had just passed, Harry is transfixed. An image of untouched white coat covered lean but fully capable muscles, moulded into the most beautiful wolf that stood a few feet off the ground. Harry wanted to shout and curse at the creature that persists in disobeying him, but he hopes that he only can after he’s recovered from this trance.

“Little one?” He steps forward and hoists his weight up onto the log before Louis’ distracted wolf. He takes a breath before allowing his body to slip and just as his shoulder collides with the ground fur sprouts from the curse upon all wolves, his form shifting in pure anguish from man to wolf.

Louis’ eyes are exactly the same, an ideal form of blue that a God from above agreed to just once bestow upon the Earth, while Harry’s have morphed into the worst black. The eyes of a slave belonged to the first wolves and those of warriors befell the later wolves. Harry possesses a keen shade of onyx that resembles nothing but a combination of both.

He was at least three feet taller than Louis’ wolf and carried scars as promised by the oldest fathers of wolves. One who transforms to a wolf will house its physical miseries on its animal form, which put any future Alpha at risk of having horrid markings. Harry’s muzzle is void of fur on the left side and leaves his dagger-like molars on display from any angle.

Louis comes closer on delicate footing to inspect his Alpha, but is instead seized at his throat by the wolf he hoped to study. Harry’s monstrous wolf is severe in his bite and jumps off the log with Louis whining between his teeth, tasting blood on his tongue as he fought to not let go. They reached the Alpha’s cottage at an alarming speed and Harry pushes through the front door so he may release the fidgety Omega.

It fills him with immense regret to see Louis pitifully lay on his side, bleeding from pierced flesh on his nape and yelping each time he tried to stand. Harry went to him and cleaned Louis’ wounds by licking them before dropping to the ground and encircling his mate’s body gingerly. Louis’ head fell to the floor when he grew tired and his breathing was little more than wheezing. Harry wished to take the violence of his care back it is done and he can only now forfeit any hope of being a truly noble Alpha to his mate. His impatience and reckless paranoia has only led to this; when he tried to protect his mate he merely ended up hurting him.

Louis’ neck healed in time for him to change back and the first notion of his vengeance is to slap a now human Harry, his irritation appearing blissfully evident. “How dare you?!”

Hearing Louis as feisty as before gives Harry instant relief as he tries to wipe the dried blood from his Omega’s skin. All he receives is another stinging smack in accordance with the one preceding it, before Louis is scrambling to his feet.

“Little one, I am sorry.” Harry stands as well and tries to shuffle closer without testing his mate’s limits. His earlier resentment has since dissipated now that Louis is threatening to hit the part of him that tries to reach out. “We had to come home before others got the chance to scent you.”

“I don’t care!” Louis all but shrieked, his face turning bright red with fury. He rubbed incessantly at his raw skin, gnawing into his lip whilst trying to withhold a whimper.

Harry forced his way into Louis’ space and held those defensive arms against the wall when his Omega tried to fend him off. His wolf is nervous, antsy and most of all brimming with regret. “Easy, Omega. Easy. Let me look at you.”

It was a struggle to make Louis yield for it soon became known that Harry’s mate, the one his wolf has seen and chosen to bond for an eternity, is more than merely feisty. Louis is every antonym of timid and a fireball in the most mesmerizing manners for he neglects Harry’s status in the pack to bare his sharp teeth in a threat. His Alpha was quick to respond and learning how to subdue the lovely creature now in his care with pets and a special purr that felt like his inner beast could only make, using his voice like a puppet.

Harry was allowed a week to be with his mate as the first nights were worst for new mates, the Alphas of which would go so far as to tear into another who got too close to their home. It was no longer the cottage of the pack leader’s son with nothing more than the bare essentials to survive when he took his meals at the packhouse. Harry’s home is now the place in which his mate must feel most secure, where Louis’ nest must reside in their bed and the furnishings must satisfy both lovers.

Louis did not immediately begin to seek out those articles of clothing most drenched in Harry’s scent or bundle sheets together for his nest while it was admittedly something Harry looked forward to. The first day comprised of little outside the bedroom and Louis’ snacks when he went into the kitchen; those moments were tailed by Harry who would purr temptingly but with hints of insecurity as he followed the Omega. Newly bonded Alphas hated to be away from their Omegas and swam in preposterous amounts of uncertainty about whether each step their mates took away from them would be forever.

Harry’s newfound passion was the activities he could commit to between Louis’ thighs. He was little more than a crazed new Alpha that breathed, bled and craved the taste of his mate. There was every precaution taken to exhaust Louis and ensure their mating scent was well into the threads of their sheets. Harry knotted Louis in time to sleep with his body buried in the Omega’s and awoke to the same pleasure, each time finding Louis asleep between his arms whether he started there or not.

There came the reality that followed the blindly fervent and hunger for possession that Harry suffered through but no more than Louis did. The Omega had known nothing of the _Te’lia Woods_ pack like the one of his friends who came intended for the future Alpha and a day was spent learning the finer details that uprooted his calm. One mates into this pack and becomes part of the most respected wolf pack for the rest of their life, with no option to withdraw. Louis’ thrill was short-lived for he hadn’t anticipated the rule of never being allowed to communicate with his old pack outside politics and the tradition dictating that he be shown to this pack for acceptance before Harry can accept his throne.

“What if they don’t like me?” Louis sat in the chair Harry religiously occupied in his study – the one room not allowed to be powered by electricity – and glanced uncertainly at his Alpha by the fireplace.

Harry chuckled so softly that it was almost to himself, resting his arm on the mantle. His dark eyes reflected the flicker and crackle of the blaze before him. “Our pack has not rejected an Omega since its dawn.”

Louis’ blanket did not feel warm anymore and his warm beverage felt like an iced cylinder in his palms. “Has an Alpha ever mated like we did before?”

“Once, yes. The son of our first Alpha and my forefather.” Harry pushed off the wall and took his steps leisurely on his way to kneeling in front of Louis’ chair, his palms grasping the boy’s thighs and his head resting against the dip between them. “I suspect that it is also why my father entertained the idea of allowing us to have one another. An Alpha’s wolf has not chosen his mate for generations now and I suspect that we made it fairly obvious how desperate mine was to have you.”

The meeting of Louis and the pack was scheduled when Harry’s father came to their door but his son refused to let him in. Louis was in the kitchen at the time in little more than his underwear and had just the night before begun to hoard Harry’s clothes for his nest which solidified the Alpha’s rule about none entering their home. His Omega must come to the packhouse at the first sign of dusk with Harry and be introduced to the pack under his Alpha’s word.

“Harry, wait.” Louis was cooperative until the packhouse foyer had his antsy presence to contend with, and the Omega tugged on his mate’s sleeve. His eyes were wide with alarm, his heart thumping with worry and their bond straining under his distress. “I’m not sure that I’m ready.”

“Omega.” Harry winced from a painful tug in his chest when Louis’ anxiety turned into a tempest and he bundled up his lover between his arms, the same targeted organ at his sternum erupting into a crescendo of soothing purrs. “There is nothing to fear.”

Louis squeezed his eyes shut when the audible commotion of the other room reached his ears and hid in Harry’s torso, trying not to whimper all the while. He took comfort in his Alpha’s presence and reassurance but the main attraction is just him, which Harry will have to eventually let him harness the spotlight for on his own. This pack is entirely new to him and besides Harry there is not a soul he has befriended in that room awaiting him.

“I’m tempted to take you home and parade you in front of my old pack. See how you feel.” The Omega muses with a returning glimmer in his eye.

“This is your home now, little one.” His Alpha playfully growls, diving in to nip at Louis’ bond mark. The purring did not cease. “There was a time in this pack when Omegas would be put before us and Alphas would fight for their hand. We got to pick and they had no say.”

“That’s an awful story, Harry.” Louis whispers breathlessly, less panicked and now successfully distracted. “Did you ever fight for an Omega?”

The doors at Harry’s back parted and out walks the present pack leader, Harry’s father, dressed as formally as Louis saw him the first time. It makes his cheeks heat up to remember the circumstances under which they spoke initially and how the Alpha had allowed Louis to browse through his personal library while the poorly fated meeting of his son and Louis’ companion took place. Wolves lived for many years longer than mortal species and aged incredibly well, which proved to be true as Harry’s father stood at seventy and looked no older than forty.

“Louis, welcome.” The pack Alpha smiles politely at the Omega his heir is trying to shield incessantly. “Bring him through, son.”

Harry grunted, albeit too curtly for the man resigning his rule for him, and waited for his father to disappear through the opened doors before pulling away from Louis. He took the Omega’s hand in his, smirking when he kissed his lover’s knuckles.

“I had fought for an Omega once.” He watched Louis’ expression morph into something fierce as jealousy seemed to juvenile a feeling for his lover. Harry leaned down as they walked to the door and spoke directly into Louis’ ear. “She had darker hair than yours and took orders well. She will be in this room, little one. Make me proud, baby, and show her why my wolf chose you.”

Harry never spent a second of his life earning the affections of an Omega besides Louis but he was well aware of the genetically imprinted traits of an Omega. They were like Alphas in their desire to be worthy and by spurring on Louis in this time of intense nervousness, Harry gave his boy something more urgent to concentrate on.

That night, Louis won the loyalty of the pack in an astonishing display of his character to rival any Omega before him. Harry was the one standing wordlessly behind him on the platform, his shirt discarded and his pack ink on display from neck to hip, swelling with pride at his mate’s dignity. An Omega in his circumstance must be announced as the intended pack Alpha’s mate, and show their worth to the other wolves.

Louis surprised each member present when the solution he came forth with was one not expected by even the eldest among them. He looked at the faces of hundreds of wolves and chewed his lip doubtfully, not afraid to meet their eye when some apprehension was displayed. His instinct tortured him when he thought of the other Omega Harry tried to claim, his possessiveness flaring like acid in his gut. He took a deep breath, tilted his head back and howled.

The howl was not laced with the usual lilt of his voice and carried no unique sound that meant nothing to anyone but him. His vocals were manipulated beautifully to call any Alpha, Omega and Beta in the room. The sound was astounding to any ear and a response was rendered from the room in the hurried crowd of wolves trying to match Louis’ call with their own. Unity amongst a pack is most profound and Louis brought the deed forward in one sound that encompassed the room in a brotherhood. Nobody has made that howl which his throat carved out elegantly and under the apparent approval of the pack’s Alpha, who had himself elicited the excitement of the pack by joining in, stepped back grinning.

Harry came out of the shadows then and nodded in acknowledgement to the pack when they only exaggerated their volume when their unified noise became more abundant. He approached Louis with a languid smirk and was abrupt in crouching to pick his mate up by his thighs, hooking them over his waist. Louis was taller than he now, smiling in the throes of the pack’s energy, and giggling when Harry brought him in for a deep kiss.

“My sweet Omega, you have most thoroughly impressed each wolf here tonight.” Harry caught Louis’ jaw in his gentle hold and exposed the arch of his neck before kissing the scar of their bond mark. He smiled at the approving shouts of his pack. “You have brought them to the edge, little one. They want to go out into the night.”

“Really?” Louis’ eyes grew wide as he failed to contain his awe and joy. He was nudged by his Alpha to look at the pack leader who smiled and motioned for him to say the words reserved for the one in charge. The restless wolves wanted to switch forms and delve into the night where they’d hunt as one force in the darkness, and they wanted Louis to allow them. “Hunt, my wolves. Let the moon be your master this night.”

There was a spirited wildness that overtook the pack as they raced out of the packhouse to bask in the forest at night in their primal forms. Louis gasped at the vibration of the floorboards and the howls that filled the air as a salute to him from the throats of wolves. Harry set him down for congratulation and praise by his father before joining the others; he waited for Louis to change before he did. The snow white wolf was just as much of a sight to marvel at as before and Harry bowed his head from nearly eight feet to show loyalty to his mate. Louis first made a confused sound, too sweet and like a whine, before coming closer and slipping into the space under Harry’s neck.

Harry recovered quickly enough to push Louis onward at his tail and sprint through the trees with his Omega who was surprisingly stealthy and quick. Harry was difficult to see with his ashen fur and hid in the shadows once more while Louis searched for him in a barren meadow, showing himself when the Omega was turned away. He scared his lover by biting Louis’ tail without teeth and dragging him away from the field of flowers into the darkness, stepping over him when Louis tried to escape.

They made love there after blurrily returning to their human forms; Harry took Louis on the ground with a frightening growl that reverberated through the trees as a medium of his prowling possessiveness. He tasted Louis’ slick when the Omega whimpered and tried pushing him away, and buried his knot in his lover in time to flood his system with warm seed. Harry thrusted more like his wolf counterpart, without caution and deep, hard enough to be ruthless. Sweat gleamed across their skin as Louis made his own bloody marks against Harry’s inked back, gasping at the obscene stretch of his thighs when Harry sought to claim most painfully.

Harry was a man possessed when he heard something approach and his head snapped up from the juncture of Louis’ neck, settling when the familiar scent of pack reached his senses. As his wolf controlled him now, Harry found ease in knowing it was only their pack lingering nearby while he worshipped his lover under the moon. There were times when an Alpha would kill to guard his mate’s chastity but it was not during pack festivities.

Louis was allowed to wake from the ground when Harry’s wolf felt sated. The Alpha lay beside his mate, staring at the other without blinking. He made a sound when Louis crawled onto his chest and curled up there, almost asleep with their mating scent drenched in their surroundings.

“There was never another Omega, little one.” Harry sat up and cradled Louis against him, folding his legs so he can lightly rock his mate.

“I know.” Louis mumbled, yawning into his fist. His closed eyelids received a brush of Harry’s lips.

Harry stayed awake while Louis slept for an hour before awaking and they wasted more of the night as wolves. The Alpha hunted while Louis lay perched on a boulder and acted disinterested until Harry’s looming figure came to him, smearing blood across the fur between his legs in a silent request to mate again now that he’s provided food. Louis’ bare skin just came into view as Harry’s claws were still retracting and the broader male bottomed out in his beloved so suddenly that the stretch on Louis’ walls stung. He apologised and waited, thighs straining as Louis adjusted and his slick flowed to lubricate their joined bodies.

The others of the pack arrived where they were in smaller groups, greeting the mated couple on the rock with assorted sounds from their wolves. Harry asked Louis to change back to their wolf forms as their pack should be one when gathered, and though they were knotted it was not an imposition. The Omega lay back and in the curl of Harry’s body, their knot hidden from plain view, as he watched the others arrive.

Harry’s father and mother came onto the rock to wish their son and his mate. The wolves exchange warm gestures of courtesy before Harry lays his head on Louis’ tummy when they are alone and begins to clean his mate with slow drags of his tongue. His parents are a few feet away still on the vast boulder to be the second of the pack’s most revered mated pairs.

The pack retired before dawn and Harry carried his exhausted mate to their cottage where we bathed his drowsy Omega with warm water and soap before setting him down in their nest. Louis was quick to disappear under the covers, lightly snoring into a pillow dressed in Harry’s ripped T-shirt.

In the coming weeks Harry was expected to spend many hours in the day with his father for the conclusion of his training to resume the post of pack Alpha. He had to meet with outside packs that had law-breakers to reprimand and as is tradition, would be faced with an Alpha heir in combat as punishment. Each night Louis had to remind Harry to leave his bloody boots at the door and go immediately for a shower to get rid of the crimson stains before nearing him.

Louis spent his daylight hours with a Beta who first approached him, learning about the territory and the pack history. He discovered that the pack still housed the custom of the pack Alpha being fluent in their most ancient language before accepting his crown. Harry teased Louis that night when the boy asked him questions about the language, replying in the tongue itself so his Omega grew irritable from not knowing what he meant.

A week it took of religious study and Louis secretly learned the forgotten mother tongue so he could capture Harry’s pleasant surprise. The Alpha was first in disbelief until the wonder of his mate’s intelligence faded from myth status and became a reason to praise the beautiful mate. He tried communicating solely in the difficult speech to test Louis’ limits and the only flaws were in hurried pronunciation, but Harry was no less proud. He spent a night singing with the words of his ancestors in Louis’ ear while his Omega fell asleep against him.

*    *    *    *    *

_Some do not believe in the oldest magic in the way that others do; but unto each is the right to their free will until the darkness befalls them._

Harry is two days away from accepting the honour his father has carried for decade and his mate has been with their pack for nearly a year. He felt like the King even if his power was much less and Louis was the divinity which he praised most devotedly. Their bond was so exquisitely carved out in their hearts that Harry feels pain when away from Louis for more than a day and while Louis would never impede his training, the Omega felt agony as well.

On a walk with his Beta companion, Asher, through the woods once well before Harry could come home Louis encountered a gathering of tents just beyond a river outside their territory. It had not been claimed by an Alpha and as questionable as it was, Louis was no less curious. Asher was as adventurous as he and went when Louis called him across the stream of freshwater, travelling as wolves to emphasise their speed and agility.

The sun had begun to set but there was no absence of light like the experience that eclipsed Louis’ heart when he sneaked around the edges of the tents, out of sight. There were voices he knew to be familiar and tried to associate with the many personalities he’s come to know whilst simultaneously hearing what they were saying. It shocked him when he did and is wolf hit the ground, stunned, as he panted at the dirt and something like fear took hold of his heart. He thought of Harry first, the Alpha whose name these men took so cruelly in their plots, and tried to mask his feelings so it did not travel to his mate through their bond. Louis discouraged Asher from pulling him away when he became desperate to know who these men were.

“Harry is noble and too honest for our good. I’ve spoken with him and he will not sway in his decision to move the pack.” One said, gruff and unkind. Something heavy shifted before silence fell again over a murmur of agreement.

Another, that made Louis’ spirit decay with how it resembled a man he looked up to, spoke. “He is noble, my boy. I tried to see the idea from his perspective and-”

“And he will not succeed in moving us to new territory.” Barked the first, joined by the others.

Louis let his head fall upon hearing this hatred for a plan his Alpha is most excited to execute. He wants to move to a new land where the ground can be better harvested and the life surrounding them is not withering. Harry has been informing Louis of the same facts daily during his hyped speech for days.

“We have ancestors’ graves here, Alpha. You cannot allow him to leave.” The beast who sparked Louis’ anger continued.

“We will not be doing the pack any-”

“Something must be done about this, Alpha. He cannot become the leader of the pack before we can dissuade him.”

“I have spoken with Shephard and Serene. They will wait no longer for Harry’s cooperation.”

“If he does not listen?”

“It would be in his and his little mate’ best interest to listen.”

“Silence. Smell that?”

Louis picked up his weight and ran as fast his legs could carry him, pushing Asher ahead of him to remain in sight as they rushed back through the cover of trees to their territory. The pack’s future leading Omega was speechless when he collapsed onto their porch and just breathed, his wolf form battling the cold breeze poorly as the temperature continued to plummet.

The unclaimed land was occupied by those Alphas wanting to persuade Harry to change his plans and by the ruthless undertone of their words, great lengths will be taken. Louis was in distress and he laid there on the floor without a sound or thought aside from contemplating how to bring this up with Harry. His Alpha has a good heart and deserved the unrestricted trust of his pack members because he is one to never lead them astray. It pained Louis to know there were ones close to Harry plotting against him.

It was an hour past midnight when Harry reached home and sniffed the air at the door, picking up on Louis’ unease almost instantly. He silently chastised himself for not feeling his mate’s sufferance through their bond sooner and went on a search to find his lover, surprised to discover him in their nest staring out the window with hardly noticeable breaths.

“Omega.” Harry kneeled at Louis’ head and pushed the covers away, his chest filling with worry as his wolf awoke and stalked in a steel cage when his Omega’s hurt became evident. “You will kill me with this poor state of mind, little one. Talk to me.”

He’s never seen Louis so troubled and was only angered by it now for the reason for this deep crime has a death wish signed already. Harry only opens his arms when Louis slides off the bed and into his embrace, ignoring the blood matted to his hair and skin as he held his mate with all his might. Louis closed his eyes, felt no air in his lungs but tears in his eyes until they spilled over his cheeks, and spoke almost verbatim about his harsh experience that day.

Harry _exploded_ when he listened to nearly all of what Louis had to say. He was much to callous with getting Louis off his lap so he can pace about the room, exuding anger in the form of his terrifying Alpha timbre. His words were peeled off his gravelly voice rather than spoken simply and his volume grows to be intimidating when Louis curls up against the bedpost, wrapping his arms around his knees.

It was preposterous to entertain the idea that members of their pack – ones that Louis could recognise by voice – were considerably fickle enough to plan dethroning their Alpha before he tasted the power of pack leader. Louis shuddered at the thought of their back-up ideas which involved threatening him as Harry’s mate and left that part out for fear of straying from the objective. He watched Harry stalk across the area of their room, his stress causing his face to flush and for cooling blood rivulets to form down his visage.

“You travelled beyond this pack’s borders to no man’s land. None but hopeless thieves and rogue wolves live there, Louis.” Harry’s calm was a façade and Louis could see it in the way he pulled on his hair and his jaw tightened until nearly the left side of his facial structure was clearly visible through stained skin. “You put yourself _in danger_ to hear the plans of worthless outsiders?!”

Louis did not want to talk to Harry when he was like this, unpredictable and fuelled purely by rage.

“Answer me, Louis!” Harry’ wolf withered at the thought of losing Louis to aimless lone wolves wandering unclaimed territory and snarled in memory of the boy’s irresponsibility. Louis remained silent and the Alpha cursed, kicking over one of the nightstands.

“I’ve been here a year, Harry.” Louis finally said something and it was in a strained, tired voice while his eyes remained plastered to his shivering palms. “I feel confident in knowing who it was that I heard.”

“You will not leave this territory again, Louis. If I find out you did a wolf will be taken off patrol and made to guard the door.” Harry seethed, storming over to the bathroom door and yanking it open.

“They said they spoke to you about not moving the pack.” Louis’ additional statement made Harry pause in the doorway, his back and shoulders just as tense as before. “Tried to convince you to change your mind. Is that true?”

Harry did not sway or say a word for several seconds. He raised his head from its bow with a resigned sigh, his tone clipped. “No, it isn’t.”

Louis’ fright subsided at the same time that his determination overwhelmed him. Harry’s initial rejection is understandable but Louis would be a subpar mate if he allowed a threat to advance on them when he could prevent it. He swallows thickly and tries his hardest to not think about losing Harry to cruel Alphas residing beyond their land wanting to preserve traditions that will kill many of their wolves.

Asking Harry to follow him would be pointless and his Alpha might just lock him indoors afterwards, which leaves Louis with the only option to find out more facts. The Omega wipes his own tears with the backs of his hands and begins to think. If he waits until morning it is likely that Harry would have informed others of Louis’ restriction and he’ll never get to his goal without being stopped. Listening to the shower come on gives Louis some measure of security from being heard as he rushes to the closet, pulling out the darkest clothing he owns. He runs out of the cottage with light footing makes a beeline for the trees.

That night, Louis ties a deep grey cloak around his neck before changing to his wolf so even if his other clothes tear, this will guard his snowy fur from sight. Some attire is stored in an abandoned squirrel’s home. He knows where to avoid as patrol wolves manage the exterior of their land and makes it to the stream in time to disappear beyond it. The howl he hears coming from his pack, and consequently his home because of Harry’s anguished call for him after discovering his mate had gone.

Louis knows how expertly Harry could track his scent when he was desperate and now the Omega less than enough time to lead him. He sprinted on heavy legs through the shrubbery, looming trees and critters diving out of his path to reach the clearing where the tents were. Except, there were none.

Confusion struck Louis like a lightning bolt as he lowered his muzzle and sniffed the ground to confirm that in fact they were here but the wind had carried away most of their scents. No evidence of an invasion to this peaceful landscape remained for Louis to present and he heard the thundering footing of a greater wolf than he coming for him now. Louis raised his head to the skies and stared at the moon, blinking so a tear falls down his fur.

Thinking quickly, Louis tries to fathom why they’d pack and leave so soon, or had they been here for much too long? He listened for Harry’s wolf entering the meadow like a beast on the prowl, a great black wolf with black eyes stalking towards him as predator to prey. Louis cannot feel fear for Harry’s wrath when he worries about why these dangerous wolves have sought new ground or possibly already infiltrated their pack. If they truly are existing wolves of their pack then they no longer needed a hideout as the plan came into effect.

Harry’s wolf was close enough to grab Louis when the first scream ensued from the homeland they both broke free of seconds of. Both wolves looked to the source of the sound and saw smoke go up to the clouds, accompanied by the flaring orange of fire screeching with the panicked cries of its victims.

Louis wishes more than anything that he hadn’t been right and didn’t see the remorse twist into fury in Harry as the latter lunged at the trees and went back. Harry growls when Louis tries to follow, forcing his Omega back into the meadow and warning him to stay put. Louis waits only until Harry is no longer visible, then ripped the burdensome cloak off and pushed on through the woods after Harry, only stopping to switch forms and pull on his previously stashed clothes so he is better able to aid those who need it.

He enters through the gap in the trees as he had left and is struck dumb by the near complete destruction before him. Only minutes had they been gone and most of the pack members’ homes are in flames, the owners rushing out into the centre clearing is sheer shock and fear. To his left where his own home once was lay a foreign skeletal establishment laden in cursed fire that is slowly tearing down the safety he had.

This pack had great fighters but Louis could see none of them and the worst realisation dawns on him; those in the tents could have been the strongest among them now sought to overturn the peace this pack earned. The most quizzical occurrence was when those panic stricken faces saw him, all they displayed was anger. Not one of them that noticed him showed him the familiarity as before or came to him, they stood where they were and began pointing him out to one another like he was the cause of their misery.

Louis saw wolves coming into the field and they were each from his memory of pack hunts or ceremonies, but no respect was granted anymore. These wolves were traitorous and licking the blood encrusted muzzles from slaughtering those that were loyal. Fear grabbed Louis by his throat when he thought of Harry and sent pulses of urgency through their bond, receiving nothing in response. He almost let himself be seen by those wolves that would kill him in the name of their selfish conquest until arms yanked him backward into the shadows.

The unmistakeable scent of his Alpha filled Louis’ senses and he relaxed, ignoring the dampness of the blood that Harry also spilt in his moot defence of their pack. A hand clamped over Louis’ mouth and held him still, hot breath causing his skin to sweat where Harry laid his lips for a brief moment of silence.

“Switch to your wolf, Omega. I want you to run as you never have before.” Harry moved away from the treeline and took Louis with him, his expression unreadable as he persevered through the lumbering oaks.

Louis freed his mouth and pushed Harry’s palms down to his hips, jogging to keep up as Harry got them through this darkness that blinded them. “What happened?”

“Not now.” Harry picked Louis up and threw him forward, sure his mate would transform as he did into his wolf before he did so himself.

The Alpha’s wolf was hulking and built for all the traits of a warrior. He was a brick wall to collide into even by another by the same training and Harry pushed Louis to the ground when a wolf he used to know got too close to attacking the wolf. Harry was monstrous with his rage and tore the wolf’s throat out, discarding the corpse before shoving Louis onward and running after him. They got to the river to no man’s land when Harry redirected Louis to get in the water but move along the tide rather than cross it.

They left the sounds of struggles and an unforeseen tragedy behind for now as Harry guided Louis through the water. He was tense and _livid_ but also regretful towards his stubbornness. Occasionally, the Alpha would glance at his tired mate and come up beside him, lick Louis’ throat or nip at his muzzle to wake him up so they continued. Harry wanted his human form so he could apologise but he found that having an excuse to not yet accept his grandest defeat is a relief.

The sun came up before Harry allowed them to stop moving, and it was only to climb a series of boulders for the coverage a waterfall offered. Louis was sure they were miles away from their home now and his limbs were drained of all ability or energy when he fell to the ground, falling asleep on cold stone behind the crashing water cascade.

*    *    *    *    *

Midday came and went without sign of someone having followed them here, as Harry planned by using the river to travel. When Louis began to shiver after changing back to his nude human form, the Alpha was already back from temporarily being absent to meet with Liam. There were as many wolves that remained loyal to him as there were limbs on one’s body; Liam was one of them and his mate. Harry rendezvoused with him to establish a plan. Liam must go with the five others to the packs further than those merely neighbouring them while Harry takes Louis in a more Southerly direction to the pack his grandfather still leads. He returns and lies with his mate for enough time to gather his strength, after ensuring that their newfound supplies are sufficiently guarded.

Louis awoke only after dozens of nightmares of being discovered and dragged back to the pack territory where he is made to witness the scarring breakage of his mating bond through death. He wakes up to Harry’s torso being his pillow and the sun finally lowering from its peak, depicting outwardly his mood when he realises that this entire reality is not a dream unto itself.

The Omega just lies there in the pained tranquillity of violence’s aftermath and clings to his Alpha as if the threat was still lurking behind this false sense of security. He stretches his body in a stiff arch and moves away to sit against the wall alongside a foreign brown bag stuffed with what necessities he withdraws and lays out around him. Sometimes Harry would sniff or unconsciously growl in his sleep, his folded limbs twitching as his mind recalled the horrors of last night. Louis saw it too, felt the betrayal of one too many souls dear to him like a searing agent across his flesh.

His pain only abated to give way to maddening numbness as he studied the creased clothing, sparse food and car keys surrounding him. Louis fingered the sleeve of the shirt he donned but does not remember dressing in, and retrieves the blanket from his poor spoils to drape over his sleeping Alpha. He takes up a small spot for himself in this inadequate substitute for his lost nest, laying down on a corner of the blanket close enough to seek the warmth of Harry’s neck where the scent is overpowering.

Harry woke with a head of hair closest to his face and could do nothing more than roll over and bury his visage in Louis’ throat, filling his movements and purrs with apology. He relished in Louis’ presence around him when the Omega did not hesitate to embrace him, arms and legs wrapping around him. The air blew over their heads as Louis yawned but said nothing as he allowed Harry to hold him for dear life, breathing deeply to control the fearsome emotions welling inside him.

“There are no appropriate or sufficient number of words that can convey my apology as effectively as you deserve, little one.” Harry spoke with immense modesty and hardly moved from where he hid himself in a sweet alcove of Louis’ skin. “I was foolish to react with anger when I suspected the truth from you. You have every right to ostracize me, sweet Omega. I am worthless now that I’ve let you down.”

Louis brought his hand to Harry’s neck while his fingers combed lightly through his Alpha’s damp curls. He ripped off the tie that held most of the locks together and dropped it aside. “I’d be a monster if all I did was get mad at you.”

Harry raised his head with an impassive gaze. He admired his Omega’s beauty even now when their circumstances were dire and Louis managed to be the only beauty left in the world for him.

“I could get mad at you.” Louis continued, his voice low and far from bold. “I want to but that wouldn’t do us any good, would it? I’d rather know the truth. What happened, Harry?”

The Alpha did not seek to redeem himself just yet but did answer the question with severe heaviness in his heart. “My plan to move the pack to better grounds was not well received by the older members among us. They did try to persuade my decision but I knew what would be best for our wolves and intended to see it done.”

“Were they going to try to kill you?” Louis glanced at his Alpha in trepidation. The last thing he’d ever be able to survive is Harry’s demise. It pained him to think about the possibility.

“Yes and had you not brought me away from home earlier I may have been at their mercy.” Harry felt Louis’ muscles tense where they enveloped him and took solace in the realisation that Louis still cared as deeply for him.

Louis pressed his lips to Harry’s temple. “Why do that? Why…hurt you for something so trivial?”

“The names they mentioned, Serene and Shephard?” Harry recalled for the boy. He waited for Louis’ nod before he went on. “Both are the leaders of our sister packs, equally as powerful and keen on a merger that combine their strengths. They’ve been bargaining for years and I did not seem to fit into their plan.”

“Because you did not compromise.” Louis finished. “That is most important, Harry. You must know this.”

“It hardly is when almost the entire pack despised me in silence.” Harry grunts, cracking the knots in his back and knuckles before standing. He helps Louis to his feet soon afterward so they can prepare to depart.

“What about your parents?” Louis asks the question that Harry feared would come his way. He repacks the bag but keeps a knife and apple out to bring for his mate.

Harry cut the fruit into eight slices before discarding the core, and feeds them all to Louis with his hand. He restrains his anger expertly when Louis eats from him without reluctance. “My mother was forced to be at my father’s side when they first met and now too as well. She prefers to be where she can share information on their activities, and it’s safer for her. The trip we have ahead of us will not suit her health.”

Louis chewed and swallowed but not without difficult as his nausea caused his depths to twist painfully. Harry’s mother was so kind to him in all the time that they’ve known each other and while his Alpha stole the only available window to secure their safety, hers was jeopardised by a cruel man who feigned love for his own son. The truth behind the politics of this world frightened Louis more than the monsters that carefully but nonetheless villainously executed it.

“I’m sorry.” Louis stepped closer to Harry and hugged his burdened Alpha, breathing shakily against his chest. “You would have been the best pack Alpha anyone’s ever known.”

They left the hollowed cave behind the waterfall shortly after Harry sanctioned time to clean up using the crisp water in a near shimmering ravine. Louis tries his best to cheer Harry up during that short interval but fails multiple times in a row when his Alpha gives no effort into even the a hint beyond a grimace. It breaks Louis’ heart to witness the internal turmoil of an otherwise headstrong dominant male destroy him from within.

Alphas are physiologically stronger than any other race beside them but a blow to their mind could easily be fatal, and the symptoms of became only apparent to their mate. Louis would let this trip end them before he allowed Harry’s mental state to shrivel into total defeat, so he climbed onto the rock where Harry sat sorting through blades and sidled up next to him.

He laid his head on Harry’s shoulder and made room for himself on the Alpha’s lap after brushing aside the formidable weaponry. Harry was quick to welcome him despite the interruption and cradled Louis to his chest greedily, breathing in the scent of his mate and brushing over the exposed spans of tanned skin. He was fixated on his devoted ministrations for long enough to not hear a word of Louis’ reassurance whispered in his ear.

“I’d return you to your old pack where you could be safe as these are circumstances I did not anticipate, but you are my mate and the duty of protecting you should just be mine.” Harry said in a tone that resembled his Alpha voice, a cryptic and tormented gruff timbre that a dominant resorted to after great tragedy or in the face of a fair challenge.

Louis carded his fingers through Harry’s curls and forcibly tilted the Alpha’s head back to graze his lips, ignoring the growl that followed. “I’m not leaving you, Harry. This is not your fault.”

“By now the three strongest packs on this side of the world are joined as one indeterminate force.” Harry clears his throat but it does no good. His voice has permanently melted into that of his inner wolf, as his Alpha nature surfaced as a reprieve for the man. “They’re killing themselves by staying in that territory.”

“Why is that?”

“The land is dead, little one. They cannot feed themselves on creatures that have gone away and crops that refuse to grow.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about, Alpha.” Louis cups both sides of Harry’s face and sits up so he is higher than him, sighing shakily when the Alpha begins to knead his bare thighs.

“We need to reach my grandfather sooner than they can begin violating treaties to expand their territory.” Harry shook his head at the future he imagined, and stood to hand Louis his clothes. “Too many will die.”

Louis dresses and slips on his shoes before climbing off the rock, following Harry back into the abyss hidden by the trees. What once felt like a wonderland only reminded Louis of imminent danger now. “Why won’t they move the pack? I heard only a little about ancestral graves.”

“Aye.” Harry tossed the bag over his shoulder and sought out Louis’ hand to reaffirm that his Omega is always near him, making the trek through dim valleys in the earth and shallow streams with more than one weight on him. “A pack lays its Elders where they make a home for the future generations and to leave is to dishonour them, but  the death of an entire pack to maintain tradition is redundant.”

“Were they so secretive about this that not you or your wolves could figure it out?”

Harry sighed, mourning those times when he could have done something from his position of rising power. “The entire pack thought that remaining in their current territory was sufficient. That would be over four hundred wolves keeping a secret from a mere seven of us.”

Louis knew that nothing he could say immediately would have an effect on Harry’s deteriorating nature and instead sealed his lips for the rest of the trip through this wilderness. They encountered no threats for hours on their way to the road where Liam promised their awaiting vehicle would be parked. Harry was indescribable in his mercurial rage at times when he’d experience brief but violent episodes at moments when Louis could only step back silently. His Alpha would destroy himself soon, he was certain.

At the fifth source of water they passed Harry had picked Louis up ritualistically over his shoulder without permission to carry him across, and would do so at every uncertainty in their route from unpredictable rock clusters to the dip in the mountains where predators were abundant. Louis walked ahead of his Alpha at those moments when Harry wanted to watch him, unblinkingly following the silhouette of his lover as they moved. Sometimes Louis would fall and groan from too harsh an impact on his arm or behind, which is when Harry allowed them a short break.

“Harry?” They were  at the mercy of dusk and had a few hours to go before reaching their destination but Harry did not want to move at night in human form, yet the memory of Louis’ easily spotted fur only put him in further indecision.

The man grunted from where he sat by his lonesome in the dirt, lost in thought. It almost seemed as if he were distracted and entirely unreliable as a guard but Harry knew everything that moved around them, saw anything that got too close. Nothing besides a family of squirrels and otters moved through their clearing for much time.

Louis didn’t know if he would be welcome but he went anyway to his Alpha, both for warmth as the temperature of the breeze dropped to readings beyond his tolerance. He had their only blanket wrapped tightly around their shoulders and while Harry’s internal body temperature would never allow him to freeze, the Omega shared that feat anyway. Louis did not expect great gratitude but being mechanically handled onto Harry’s lap felt like a poor coverage. Harry didn’t even look at him when he made sure the Omega was concealed and held him so stiffly that it felt like they were strangers.

Their bond showed strain and it knocked the wind out of Louis for the first time as pain blossomed in his chest.

“Remember when-” Louis was looking over Harry’s shoulder, his chin propped on the Alpha’s bulging arm. “Remember when I asked you to come pick berries with me and you said that if it didn’t bleed when you hunted it then it was not worth your time?”

Harry was listening, his palm rubbing Louis’ back without feeling and his bloodshot eyes remained focused on a hunched weeping willow.

Louis swallowed around the lump in his throat and continued, clinging to his mate but receiving nothing half as earnest in return when tears clogged his voice. “I told you not everything that is wounded will bleed.”

Their night was sleepless and miserable. Harry remained awake outside of his three hour slumber when he watched Louis remain unconscious with a stained bag for a pillow and no protection against the hard earth. It was no worthy position for any mate of his, and Harry chewed his bleeding lip while he thought of his Omega’s earlier words. It analogy stung like no blade could and Harry knew he had to make right what he was slowly ruining.

He stood and stripped his shirt off to lay on the ground, then his jacket to flatten below it. Louis did not stir when he was lifted and placed on the new spot where the unflattering cold ground could not reach his skin. Harry ensured that the blanket was properly insulating his mate before laying down behind his lover as well, offering all the warmth he could so Louis’ cheeks might turn a promising pink again. Stones cut his skin and his exceptional healing factor played a curse when his skin closed around the embedded foreign articles, but Harry ignored it all in favour of kissing Louis’ pale lips.

Morning came as a sour disposition above their heads and Harry could not entertain himself with staring at Louis’ dozing form any longer. They had to move. He swore as he stood and discovered the numerous sharp stones carved out in his skin, leaving a bloody patch on the ground. Louis woke to his infuriated muttering and went to Harry’s aid before the Alpha did more damage. They did not speak the entire time that Louis spent cleaning his mate’s skin of foreign objects and waiting for the skin to correctly knit together. His fingers were slippery, running red with Harry’s blood.

“Don’t ever do that again.” Louis picks Harry’s clothes up from the floor and tosses them to his Alpha, turning around to gather what is left and wipe stray dampness from his cheeks.

Harry frowned and held the muddy cloth in his fists. “Was my sacrifice insufficient?”

Louis was hurriedly and jerkily putting their belongings back together so he had somewhere to look other than at his Alpha. He felt sick and wanted to sleep even if it had to be on this unforgiving ground. “Shut up, Harry. You know I love everything you do for me.”

“You’re confusing me, Omega.” Harry rose to his full height and his expression was stormy, his eyes darker than those of his wolf.

“Yeah, well-” Louis did not have the opportunity to finish his sentence as he ducked in the bushes and threw up all he’d eaten in two days.

His eyes burned with shed and harboured tears, his skin was feverish and ailing with something Harry could not scent easily. Worry flooded the Alpha’s system as he kneeled by his heaving mate and held him securely, wiping sweat from Louis’ forehead and brushing his fringe back. Louis momentarily turned a disheartening phantom blue in complexion before returning to his usual shade of rose pink. Harry felt his fear like talons squeezing his heart until blood spilled from between the tightened appendages, and he sat in the soil rocking his Omega until they were both less upset.

“You have been eating and sleeping for enough hours at night.” Harry struggled to fathom this atrocity as he held Louis against his chest while standing, following his act of ensuring the Omega drank plenty of water.

Louis left his eyes closed and breathed raggedly through his mouth. “I feel fine. Just a little dizzy.”

“We don’t have far to go.” Harry kissed his mate’s cheek with a little helpless grumble, pain etched into his creased brow. “I will carry you the rest of the way.”

“Crazy wolf.” Louis murmured, but he fell into delirium too soon to argue. Harry listened to his lover’s heartbeat pulsing, weak but determined, through their bond as he went on.


	2. II

It was calculated to take a torturous six hours to reach the car Liam hid for Harry but the Alpha had an unconscious Louis to fret over. He made the trip in four hours and not without great strain in his muscles that fought against intense exertion, bruising and tightening until he collapsed against the side of the beast of a vehicle with no ability to go on. Louis fell to the ground in Harry’s physical capacity, shrieking from the impact on his side as sleep swam from his vision and he could move shakily to stand.

“Enough. Stop.” Louis reached up and pulled with diminished strength on Harry’s arm, bringing the Alpha to the ground beside him. His breaths were torn up like Harry’s and they both could barely see in front of them. “You need a break, Harry.”

“No.” The other groaned as he stretched the stiffened muscles in his limbs. “The longer we stay here the more we leave ourselves open to attack.”

“Fine, then I’ll drive.” Louis plucked the keys from Harry’s hand and stood unsteadily, leaning all his weight against the SUV’s hood as black spots appeared in his vision. “Nevermind.”

“Ten minutes.” Harry clasped Louis’ hip and stood as well, yanking the door open crowding Louis into the seat. He stood between his Omega’s legs still outside the car’s interior, breathing harshly down his mate’ throat. “Have you been feeling ill and I haven’t noticed, little one?”

“No, I swear it. This hasn’t happened before.” Louis blinked away his annoying tears as they grew more impatient to spill. He lowered his hands to Harry’s biceps where he rubbed warmth into the agonising tendons, and kissed his Alpha’s skin where it trembled from ruined ligaments fighting to heal itself. “You got us this far, Alpha.”

Harry pulled back briefly enough to angle his head and dive back in to connect their lips, a rougher union than Louis might have expected. His wolf surfaces for a moment when Harry growls, deep and possessive, from the depths of his instincts. Louis whimpered when he was momentarily allowed to breathe, looking into Harry’s deranged gaze in question. He was ready when Harry swooped down again, claiming his lips suddenly once more in a fierce attempt to gain access beyond his lips.

“It’s not safe, little one. We can’t.” Harry defied his own words by palming Louis’ pert bottom with both hands, swiping his tongue over the seam of his mate’s soft lips.

Louis whined high in his throat, a call for so many things from his mate. “When we leave these woods and enter the first town, you are going to find a hotel to knot me in.”

Harry chuckled at his lover’s lack of chaste words but truly did so to disguise the tightening in his pants from the command. “We have no money until we reach my family, little one.”

“Then do it in the backseat.” Louis brought Harry closer and shivered at the answering purr he got from his mate. “Do you think you can drive now?”

“No, and for entirely new reasons, my little minx.”

*    *    *    *    *

The car was effortless to handle on a tarred road compared to the ditch and gravel path they had to manoeuvre it through beforehand. It was a freeway going on for miles on end, and slowly the image of the woods began to disappear with the horizon. Louis caught Harry looking at the rear-view mirror more than once and would feel the same sympathy each time for the man who is forced to leave the home he has come to cherish with every ounce of his strength.

Other vehicles were seldom seen and always on roads going in alternate routes, but Louis’ relief would bubble hopefully each time he saw them. Civilisation was to be anticipated as there could be no other source of all these families going outward. Louis kicks his shoes off and rolls his window down to unleash the full violence of the wind that never felt so liberating before.

Harry glanced at his mate out of the corner of his eye and smiled at the tranquillity he saw there, reaching over the console to take Louis’ hand in his. The pulse against his skin was stronger, braver. He drove at an obscene speed through the changing weather and gloomy greyness overpowering the clouds hanging limply above them, which he noticed with disconcertion. When rain began to pelt against the windshield, he closed Louis’ window and turned the heat on to keep the chill out.

Soon, the landscape of pine trees and dams melted into a frenzy of raindrops accompanying the gruesome wind batting against the sides of their vehicle. Harry is certain that had the SUV been any lighter they may have been blown aside into a crash. He slows down to lessen their susceptibility and makes sure that Louis is still awake at his side.

“Harry.” Louis starts pulling on his companion’s arm, alarmed. He was looking at something to his left and well ahead. “Harry, look.”

The Alpha briefly glances at what he’s being urged towards and first sees it as nothing more than a storm striking a towering city, but on second look the state of the city is frightening. High-rise buildings have been torn down and their innards spewing out, iron rods and rubble peeling off the structures. The lightning above this region was as punishing as it seemed if it caused such damage. This city is scraps and a skeleton of what glory it once retained if Harry remembers anything at all.

Even more unsettling was the absence of life coming from this city when he was promised his grandfather’s pack still resided here. Where the wild once crept along his peripheral, dilapidated and decrepit buildings sprouted from dead earth. Signs hung lifelessly from poles and telephone wires sparked from the jolts of dying power within them. Ahead of them there stood dim, empty corpses of concrete that were once as bold as the souls that slaved to create them.

Harry saw one chance for answers in the form of headlights in the oncoming lane and swung their terrain SUV into its path to stop it. Following a sickening screech of tyres on asphalt, the other vehicle came to a halt meters from Louis’ door and Harry jumped out.

The driver of the other car, a sunken family minivan, was a female who looked most agitated to have been rudely stopped in her hurry. She swore at Harry for a whole minute before demanding that he explain his behaviour.

“My apologies, mam.” He had the grace to look embarrassed but it was well disguised by urgency. “Do you know what happened here?”

She, a young Beta with several bracelets of vibrant colours and a tie in her blonde hair, looked at Harry like he’s recently hopped off teleportation from another dimension. “You don’t know what happened to Greyton?”

Harry shook his head, already drenched from head to toe and unafraid of the cracking thunder circling the grounds near him. He waited for her answer.

“Honey, this conversation is not good for right now.” She put her car in gear again and jutted her chin out at Harry’s ride. “Get back in there and follow me.”

Apprehension flashed across Harry’s gaze and at the moment when lightening illuminated the earth, he looked demonic. He had to be for he was an Alpha with a mate in foreign soil. “I can’t trust you.”

“Then drive in there and figure it out for yourself.” She shrugged and for the first time, Harry looks in her backseat to find an abundance of metal junk. “Follow me, you’ve got no other option.”

“I just want to know about Alfred Styles and his pack. Do you know anything?”

“Yes.” She was speeding off before Harry could acquire more from her.

He got back to Louis in the toastiness of their own vehicle and swerved purposely to get into her lane, his mind feeling like it has been ruptured by this new information.

“If you sneeze, Harry Styles, I’m going to hit you.” Louis muttered irritably while he wiped the rain from Harry’s face and neck,  draining what excess moisture he could from the Alpha’s hair. “Did you find out anything?”

“Not enough.” Harry appreciated the wave of heat from the fans on the dashboard, clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth to keep from shivering. His wolf stirred restlessly as his vision fell apart to that of his animal form, and the red Corolla ahead of him was easier to see.

Louis does not want to further interfere with his Alpha when he is this zeroed in on a task so singularly. He can see the determination in Harry’s eye when he handles the revving SUV through wet roads and vile weather expertly to keep up with the minivan in his view. Nobody else happens by them on the highway or if they do, the rain is so severe that they cannot be seen. Harry begins to stew as he thinks about the junk in the woman’s car, and he tells Louis.

“How long has it been since you’ve visited?” His Omega asks, pulling on his shoes again because he will not be left behind once more for being ill-prepared.

Harry pushes his hair back from blocking his eyes. “I never did. My mother told me everything I know.”

“Why was your grandfather not the Alpha of your pack?”

“My bloodline is said to be the sole breed of leading Alphas in the pack my grandfather still leads. My father left the pack when he found my mother, who was the daughter of my old pack’s Alpha.”

“Hmph.” Louis says no more on the topic and keeps regarding their surroundings with innate puzzlement.

How severe could the destruction to an entire city be to bring it crashing down this way? Louis’ not been a fan of the urban life in his twenty years but the rumours of how no darkness could dim the lights of a city were well versed. People were said to be modern and technologically proactive in their skills. He was curious, as any rural heart would be, but facing the massive dismounting of a great city has shaken him. Greyton is the capital of any urban land in these parts and trade of all kinds kept it afloat. It would take more than financial crises to tear it down.

Louis left his imagination to run unhindered while Harry drove them through thunder and lightning to keep up with this new stranger. He felt his stomach rumble from lack of food and knew there was nothing left in their bag to replenish him, so he tried to go unnoticed. For a few more miles they travelled in silence, just hammering heartbeats to provide melody where there is none otherwise.

After too many empty fields and no sign of life, a settlement began to appear from sparse earth. Little farmhouses showed themselves in the midst of acres laden with crops, just before a grand wall enclosing some gathering of buildings came into view. It stood nearly tall enough to touch the clouds and seemed impenetrable with how it loomed formidably ahead, its own lingering threat of expulsion for those who intend to harm it.

“Did you know about this?” Louis studies the grave barrier, no sign or marking to indicate location. The minivan ahead of them pauses by the gated entrance where she communicated with a stationed guard. Briefly, they both look back at Louis and Harry before they’re allowed to pass.

“No, little one.” Harry drives through the tight opening granted to him from the wrought iron gates, and ignores the guard eyeing them.

Within the gates and the unyielding Olympian wall, there lies a scattering of civilisation. They have a choice of where to travel but Harry sticks with following the same red lights he has been all this while. Houses are built shoulder-to-shoulder in neat rows after a roundabout, and occupy the vast area on the entire left side of the bowl-like land. Towards the right, is where a substitute for Greyton rests. There were no skyscrapers or fascinating business architecture made of glass, but it still satisfied the requirements for urban living. Some building were wider, more gargantuan than others where they lined narrow streets and ceased at the wall on the far end.

People are not to be seen due to the weather out on the roads but the minivan comes to a  halt outside what the neon sign and burglar guarded windows indicate is a pawn shop. Harry now understands why there was so much ‘junk’ in her car when he took notice; people here must be in need of such supplies as she harvests them from a forgotten city.

“We’re getting out?” Louis peers up at the vengeful clouds.

Harry chuckles at his mate’s response to the frightening weather, and jumps out fluidly. “Be brave, little one.”

Feeling a burst of childishness, Louis hops down from the tall monstrosity in which they travelled and avoided a puddle of brown water effortlessly. He met Harry before the Alpha could reach his door and winked only in passing before rushing to the sidewalk where shelter awaited them. Harry locked the car with a nifty flick of the keys and brought Louis into the curl of his arm where ensuring his mate is safely nestled will be no trial.

The woman Harry met earlier barely waited for them to follow her into the silent store after flipping on the lights. “Lock the door behind you.”

Louis stopped to do it after being asked and caught one last glimpse of the erratic conditions under which everything exterior to them had to endure. He walked deeper into the quaint establishment and felt his eyes itch from extensive dust residue stalling in the air and on the shelves where barely anything sat for sale. Harry was also studiously glancing around their location with a slight frown on his brow, but he said nothing.

The woman could be no older than her mid-twenties and redid the tie in her hair to keep stray strands from becoming too visible. She walked around the counter and turned the last light on, illuminating the little cash register and what valuables were locked in the glass case on which it rested. Her raincoat is discarded and she passes two plastic stools over the tabletop for them to occupy.

“Judging by the looks on your faces I can say you desire many answers about what happened to Greyton and what the Hell this place is.” She laughs with no mirth at their condition, wiping dampness from her brow and gesturing openly between them. “Ask then.”

Harry disregards her curt manner and goes ahead with his questions while keeping Louis in his peripheral always; his Omega chose to walk between the shelves rather than sit down. “Your name?”

“Berta.”

“I’m Harry and that’s my mate, Louis. Where are we, Berta?”

The female takes a breath and slides off her perch to open a drawer at her back. “Everyone calls it something else but I’d suggest Haven.”

“Haven?” Harry notes the protein bars she brings back with her and declines when he is offered one that is colourfully wrapped.

Louis is nearing them and he leans into Harry’s side upon arrival. “I smell peanuts.”

Berta laughs, a true sign of amusement as her hoarse exclamation fills the small space they occupy, and she hands Louis one of the protein bars. “All you woodland folk got that kind of smell?”

“No.” Harry bites a small chunk off the treat for his own tasting first before allowing Louis to have it. A reassuring weight rests against his side when Louis eats. “Why is this place called Haven?”

“Because when evil befell Greyton, everyone needed a place to go.” Berta laces his fingers together and sat forward in her chair. “Sickness took half the population and the other half was almost entirely deteriorated trying to find another home.”

“How many of you finally did survive?” Louis asks quietly, horrified by this tale.

Berta shrugs, her life having taken her well past this tragedy. “A few hundred. You asked about the Styles pack?”

Both visitors’ attention peaked when she mentioned what they came for. “What do you know about them?”

“The pack started moving out weeks before the worst hit Greyton. By the time the first deaths were announced from our hospitals, they were all gone.”

Harry looks to Louis where they share a brief moment of troubled awareness. “Do you know where they were headed?”

“None but the pack members knew anything about them.” Berta wards off Harry’s unrest with a wave of her hand to be patient. “All anybody knows is that one day the pack Alpha was like the Master of the City and the next, he packed up and left to safeguard against the illness they knew was coming.”

“How could he possibly know?” Louis asked warily.

“No clue but that’s all the information I have for you, honey. If you want to know more there’s a descendant of the pack Alpha still living here.”

“A Styles wolf?” Harry sounded affronted by the possibility that a relative of his would abandon their pack to remain where there is little but savagery. “Impossible.”

“Now that I think about it, honey, he looks just like you.” Berta seems as puzzled by this revelation as Harry is, and Louis is too impatient for their dramatis.

“Where can we find him?” He asks, clutching Harry’s shoulder to gain the Alpha’s attention. “If he’s family we should find him as soon as possible.”

“There’s a casino and club on the furthest end of this street, nearly hugging the wall. Can’t miss it.” Berta wakes up and walks to the window, flashes of lightning casting her in a poor glow. “He’s Master of the City now, and not a wolf.”

“Everyone who carries the Styles name is wolf, Berta.” Harry snaps, personally offended by all these new truths that he has yet to verify with this estranged Styles descendant who is not of the same breed.

“They left him behind, they say, because he isn’t. The bastard is as cold as anyone can be and only ever cares about himself.”

Louis intervenes before the rapidly rising pressure in Harry’s veins leads to audible rage that will tear apart what little they have come to accomplish. He takes his Alpha’s hand in both of his and holds it against his abdomen. “If he isn’t wolf then what is he, Berta?”

“Vampire.” The Beta woman replies, needing no volume to contend with the thunder outside. “The only one to enter our lands in centuries. Killed every challenger he’s had for Master of the City and from having nothing but immortal races falling at his feet for years, he’s become too powerful to fight.”

The mention of such a creature is a shock to Louis’ system and something to be cautious around for Harry. Vampires have not entered their territory because wolves were once the worst beasts to roam any part of the world, and had nearly eradicated the parasitic race. Unfortunately, vampires were also born and not created which made this Master of the City’s existence entirely plausible. Harry had no greater desire than to meet his _family_ now that they were so near.

To harness to title and respect of being Master of the City is no undeniable feat. Edward, whether a true Styles or not, must be excessively talented in any skills he’s amassed for him to beat all those who come before him.

“What is his name?” The Alpha asks, already ushering Louis to the door and almost snapping the lock in his rush to get them back outdoors.

Berta ground her teeth when the cold was let back into her store. “Edward. A word of advice, honey?”

“What?” Harry held Louis against him on the border between in and out, feeling his mate’s warmth on his skin.

The young woman nodded in Louis’ direction with a sad look flickering across her gaze, before the customary disinterest cloaked her dull pupils. “Don’t let your mate near him. Our Master of the City likes pretty things.”

Harry sprayed water behind their wheels as he sped down the street towards the near blinding lights hoisted over the entrance to the promised casino. Gambling is as taboo as things go for people like Louis and Harry but the presence of a nightclub residing snug against the prior building only makes the Omega shake his head. People were blatantly struggling and this Edward used their few resources to manipulate those needing relief from a never-ending battle with society.

“Do you think Berta was telling the truth?” Louis asks while Harry messily parks against the curb and stops entirely to take in the tremors coursing through him.

His hands shook when he released the steering wheel and he could hardly see straight from the vibrant steam boiling through his veins. _Too much has been kept from him_.

Louis worries for his Alpha, too much so in recent events, and ignores the curious individuals by the casino entrance to get Harry’s attention. He catches his mate’s eye and shifts over the dividing console to sit astride Harry’s lap, cradling his heated neck in gentle hands. The Alpha responds with a withered growl but holds Louis’ thighs tightly, possessively. Louis saw his Alpha’s wolf and knew that Harry could not go in like this.

“Stop it, Harry.” Louis committed the extreme and slapped his Alpha squarely across the face, watching as his human nature dripped into the man’s eyes. “You can’t let your wolf control you. We’re not in the woods anymore.”

Harry took a moment to flex his jaw and pop the kink he felt in it. He glanced at Louis hotly, bemused. “You felt that smacking me would be most effective, little one?”

“Yes. We don’t know what’s going to meet us in there, Harry. I need my Alpha with me when we do.”

Well advised, Harry allows Louis to jump off first through his door and follows suit. He crowds the Omega’s space protectively, pressed against Louis’ back where it was easy to guard the smaller male. Those by the door of the casino watched them and Louis saw surprise light up their features just briefly at the appearance of Harry’s face that must resemble their boss’. He looks up at the golden lights reaching a fairly ambitious height and glanced to his left where the nightclub was being closed, evidently due to the weather.

“Who you here for?” One of the guards stops Harry at the door, obviously suspecting that the wastage of money is not why they’re here.

Harry shoves the man’s hand off his shoulder and growls; Louis squeezes his hand and the Alpha settles but an engine is rumbling in the dominant’s chest. “Where’s the Master of the City?”

Louis looked back up again and he isn’t sure why, whether the easing storm or flickering decorations drew his attention upward but standing at the window several floors up what a ghostly white silhouette. He could hardly make out more than their deathly pale complexion and dark hair, but somehow he knew who that was looking at him.

Something breezed by his ear and made his hair stand on end, a voice carried by the wind. Louis looked away when he saw the individual’s head bow almost in a greeting.

“The Master isn’t expecting any personal guests tonight.” Their brutish impediment prevented them from entering the casino and his stubbornness was tiresome.

“I am now.” A voice like silk to any ear that had the pleasure of hearing it penetrated their communication with ease. “Move aside, gentlemen.”

When their obstacles stepped back and resumed their posts by the door almost robotically, both Harry and Louis expected someone to walk out from behind them. Instead a blurry figure leapt off the overhead shelter and landed with perfect grace an inch from Louis. Harry could put his mate behind him like he had and block Louis from ever seeing this creature but there’s erasing the image engraved in his memory now.

The pale figure from the window had materialised straight from a nightmare and stood before them with a sinister smirk. He, Edward, had his head tilted to the side and it caused the scarred tissue on the left side to crease. The healed monstrosity ran across his left cheek and over his eye to disappear behind his raven black hair; that eye was almost an exact replica of Harry’s except for instead of green with gold speckles they were yellow with emerald flecks. Edward was as tall as Harry but leaner and without need for as much muscle as the wolf, his hair shorter and darker. Any other difference was in the vampire’s attire alone for the unharmed side of his face was a mirror image of Harry’s.

Something akin to surprise flitters across Edward’s face along with a pleasant aftermath as he rights his posture and leans on the arch of his back. He was as graceful as the serpent that vampires were carved from. Edward glanced away from trying to catch a glimpse of Louis to greet the brooding Alpha hiding him.

“Not so often do I have to welcome guests of my own blood accompanied by the fairest mate.” Edward’s lips curl into a smirk that directly opposes Harry’s glare. His mirth extends to a grotesquely deep chuckle before turning back to his employees with a stern command. “Close the doors, gentlemen. Send all the patrons home in ten minutes or it’s your skin silencing their departure as a carpet.”

“Yes, Master.” The goon-like men responded with respectful bows of their head before going into the casino to commence forcing others out.

Edward turned back to his new arrivals and jerks his chin towards a side door, his stoic expression meant to be as impassive as he intends. His mirth was masked by a burdensome cloak of darkness as he led them indoors out of the cold, not slowing his pace so they can keep up. Harry ushers Louis into warmth and security from the harsh conditions ahead of himself, letting the glass door slam shut on its hinges after their coupling. Louis watches his footing as much as Harry keeps his attention solely on their unsettling host, struggling to remove the similarities between them from his mind.

They are taken up two flights of stairs and into a hallway lined with troubling deep red wallpaper laden with gold patterns of crying infants. Louis grimaces at the styling choice and catches Harry’s disturbed expression from the corner of his eye. Edward glides down the corridor almost as if steps were not needed for his movement and his locomotion was utterly feline. His shoulders curved a little inward as he reached the only door on this level, and stepped inside its brightly lit innards first.

Behind Harry, the door blew shut and Louis jumped from the swift impact. He was settled by Harry’s hands on his waist under his jacket, but that was little comfort when he seemed to have stepped into a freezer.

The room is void of any personality. At the forefront is a desk made of solid oak and three chairs dispersed for visitor and host, while nothing sat on the desk except a single rose that’s as white as Edward’s skin. Louis noted that the frightening wallpaper travelled with them in here and the faces of speechless infants seemed to tell him without words that this room saw many horrors.

“Sit.” Edward moved around to the other side of the desk, putting on his finest charming smile and gesturing to the empty seats.

Harry refused the offer but Louis felt dead on his feet and needed to sit or risk collapsing without a trigger. He took up a leather cushioned chair and ignored the set of unknown eyes watching him intently.

“We have many questions for one another.” Edward rested his weight forward on the desk, his knuckles digging into the wood. He looked away from Louis midway through his statement and found Harry’s heated glare endearing enough to laugh. “You may go first, Alpha.”

Harry prepared to ask his first question when he watched Edward walk to a gadget on the wall and turn the dial, which instantly reflected an effect in the room as its temperature rose. Louis stared fixatedly at his lap, refusing to acknowledge that the act seemed to have been under his mental request.

“You are one of my blood, my family.” Harry states emotionlessly, tracing Edward back to his desk. “How are you not a wolf?”

“I asked both myself and our grandfather that for years.” Edward’s eyes hardened the way one’s do when the subject matter bothered them. Louis sucked in a sharp breath at the caress of an invisible hand along his nape. “He abandoned me because I was outsider, I could never be a wolf. Had I the choice, I would not surrender this power either.”

“Family is never rejected.” Harry curts, noticing the growing smugness of Edward’s expression. The vampire _knew_ of their latest tragedy and was playing with the Alpha. “You let down our kin, cousin. That is why they left you behind.”

“You are correct.” Edward’s last words slurred into one another, a hiss. His eyes flickered from human to reptilian and back. “I refused to leave this city because I knew what would happen to you, and had to stay behind.”

“Lies!”

“Is it?” Edward approached Harry, sauntering rather than striding. He was an elegant predator, revealing the hint of fangs when he smiled. “I am not your cousin, dear Harry. I am your brother.”

Harry pulled away from the vile monster and stalked to the opposite side of the room. His chest was alight with a hoarse snarl, and he threatened the nearing vampire with a growl. “I have no brother.”

“Taste my blood.” Edward held out his wrist. “See for yourself if I am lying. Why else would I sacrifice my chance at unique characteristics to look exactly like you?”

“Why did I not know about you then?” Harry gasped like he had been running the length of the earth and stared back at his pursuer almost helplessly. A voice, an instinct directly from his wolf, screamed that Edward spoke the truth.

Edward’s gaze became hooded as he sneered and rushed back to put the table between them. He was looking at Louis again, speaking with his eyes on the unnerved latter. “Mother birthed me three minutes after she brought you into the world, and our delightful father tossed acid on me to prove I was an abomination. We were expected to one of us be _unnatural_ but they didn’t know which one. Wolves heal, scars and all. Vampires carry scars for an eternity. You were not allowed to know about me, the bloodsucking twin brother, which is why they took you away.”

Louis raised his head for the first time since they entered this room and his soft blue orbs shimmered with tears. He couldn’t imagine a baby going through that anguish and later being discarded like he had no worth because of his race. One would not believe a vampire’s words in any conditions for they were sons of the serpent, nightmares to anyone, but truth rang undeniably through Edward’s words. His voice had a pained timbre identical to what Harry’s became when he was battling with self-regression.

Harry cut off Louis’ emotive display by coming forward to stand in front of him, blocking out the Omega entirely from Edward’s view. Nonetheless, he showed signs of belief. “How much did you know about what happened to our pack?”

“I am Master of the City, brother.” Edward’s words reflected his outward calm, his smirk returning as convincingly as it originated. “I could not help you without violating many laws but I knew you’d find me eventually.”

“Now what then?” Harry’s brusque manner is unrelenting. “This city is not a suitable home.”

“It isn’t, I agree. I’ve been waiting for years to leave and now I can.” Edward took a step closer to Harry, their faces close enough to unsettle Harry but amuse his brother. “A city that resides in a concrete bowl and is collapsing on itself is not a good home for you or your pup.”

Louis’ vision goes black from merely blurry and he sinks to the floor with a heavy thump.

*    *    *    *    *

“You have not fed him enough.” Edward is allowed nowhere near the bed he has surrendered so his brother’s mate may sleep in it. He stands tensely at the door with his arms crossed and grits his teeth at the sight of Louis unconscious from fatigue. “When he awakens I will have someone bring him food.”

Harry sat on the mattress beside Louis, swimming in worry. He could only watch his mate’s steady breaths while Louis remained unaware of him. “His scent has not changed. He cannot be with child so soon.”

“Has he had a heat?”

Harry growls threateningly, so abrupt was the offense that the windows shook in their sills. “Do not enquire such things about my mate.”

“He has then.” Edward sighs, drumming his fingers on the opposite elbow. “Your senses are waning, Alpha. I can hear a fourth heartbeat as clearly as I can smell his pregnancy. Perhaps you should rest as well.”

“We have matters that need handling first.” Harry pressed, not moving from Louis’ side. “I won’t keep him here. _Them._ ”

Edward kicked off the doorway and locked the barrier soundly behind him. He dimmed the lights to the perfect amount of dimness that was a mercy to Harry’s eyes. “Lay beside him. He will not wake while we discuss these plans.”

They spoke across Louis’ form in volumes that did not cause the latter to stir. Harry felt comfort in having the Omega tucked against his chest and turned away from Edward, his arms were wound securely around Louis while Edward sat in a chair at the bedside. In this darkness there was no exact way to ascertain the pattern of Edward’s scars but Harry knew they were there and did not plan to forget.

“We have the choice to find Alfred or continue South.” Edward says, pinching his bottom lip in contemplation. In this pitch blackness it was impossible to say that he was only watching Louis.

Harry shook his head. “We must find him. There is no point in continuing aimlessly.”

“I don’t know where he is, not anymore. He may not welcome us with open arms because we are truthfully both outcasts now.”

“Louis carrying my pup changes things.” Harry has been cradling the curve of Louis’ belly for hours now in the boy’s sleep, his fingers pinching gently or brushing the skin. “I cannot expect him to move with us with no destination in sight.”

“Is that his name?” Edward speaks to himself, his words indecipherable to another ear. The wonder laid out in his bed in bound to leave his scent behind. “Brother, your old pack knows you are not dead as well as your mate. They can seek you out at any moment.”

“To run is to demean my training, Edward.”

“Training from those who want your head mounted over a mantle.” Edward sneers, disgusted. “I’ve seen the nasty side of our bloodline, brother. This does not end here.”

Harry knew that the minute he grabbed Louis out of the line of attack. Pushing him off the throne of pack Alpha would not be sufficient for long when they begin to suspect Harry can gather enough allies to retake his position.

“We must find our family, you are right.” Edward sighs. “If we are tossed out then perhaps then we can initiate another plan but for now, security can only come from finding them. I will make the preparations.”

“Not alone, you won’t.” Harry sits up with a frown. “I brought this trouble to you.”

“Sleep, brother. Hold your lover.” Edward wakes up and walks to the door, turning into the hallway before Harry can see his face. “It may be the last peace we have for a while.”

*    *    *    *    *

Louis is walking through something that resembles the low-hanging branches of many weeping willow trees with their draping extensions surrounding him. He does not recognise this area or he would have sought softer earth where his bare feet did not hurt as much. Looking down he finds that his attire is flowing and pure white, the softest silk shirt hanging off his shoulders and shorts hooked over his hips.

“Do you like it?” A voice came from above him in the trees extending branches, and when he looked up there was just a pair of silver eyes peering down at him. “The clothes, sweet wolf.”

Louis felt a compulsion to answer even if he did not recognise those eyes and stepped back to see them easily, curling his toes where he stood on a tree’s root. “They’re very comfortable.”

The eyes squinted like they do when the owner is smiling. “Do you know who I am?”

An image of Harry flickered through Louis’ mind, except there were scars littering the man’s face on the left side. “Edward?”

“Yes, sweet wolf.” The vampire’s voice was shuddery and it raised goosebumps on Louis’ flesh.

Louis despised this invasion of his private thoughts. “Get out of my dreams, Edward.”

“I would not be here if you had not let me in. Now that I’m here, your dreams are too intoxicating to part with.” Edward shifted in his perch and fell to the ground with the same grace as he possessed in real life. The vampire donned a midnight blue velvet pirate’s shirt, ruffles at the neck and all, atop a pair of black skin tight pants. He stood a head lower than Louis on the raw earth and briefly glanced at the boy’s abdomen. “Did you know you were carrying a child, sweet wolf?”

“No.” Louis looked down, his cheeks flaming. “I wish I weren’t so absentminded.”

“You are only a few weeks along.” Edward clarified. “Both you and your pup are very strong for enduring the trip to find me.”

“Why are you here, Edward?” Louis sat down on the tree root that cracked the earth open shallowly, and was soon joined by his companion. “Am I ever going to get my own dreams back?”

“You may refuse me access to your thoughts and dreams whenever you wish.” Edward held up his hands innocently. “In the days to come, sweet wolf, you will need my advice when my brother will keep us apart.”

“Harry will have a reason for doing that.” Louis snapped, only further incensed when Edward lies back on the ground and laughs enough for his form to vibrate. His fangs would never be a settling sight.

“Yes, but they will not always be reasonable.” Edward’s expression sobers. “Listen closely now, sweet wolf. You are about to wake up.”

“Okay.” Louis looked at him patiently, beginning to feel the draw of consciousness.

Edward’s hand seized Louis’ and he kissed the boy’s knuckles. “If I do not come to you here when you think of me, then I am being kept from you.”

“How can that be possible?” Louis felt danger at his back when there was none, but his dream was slowly melting from a forest to sheer darkness. Looking at Edward, it frightened him to face emptiness without preparation.

“I don’t know yet, but we will find out soon.” Edward disappears along with the last flickers of pale trees and Louis wakes with a loud gasp.

He clutches the sheets that cover him and coughs while hunched over, his skin returning from the unsettling icy feel to rejuvenated warmth. Hands were suddenly on him and Louis welcomed their assistance as he recognised the calloused palms of his Alpha. He surged forward and planted himself on the man’s lap, hugging Harry around his neck. The presence of a familiar scent washing over him relaxes him for a while when soothing words are spoken lowly in his ear.

“Easy, little one. Easy.” Harry rubs Louis’ bare back and kisses their bond mark with no small amount of affection. He tenses briefly when the door creaks. “Yes, Edward?”

Louis’ heart altogether stops beating for a scary moment, and he squeezes his eyes shut to not see the reflection of the vampire in the tile above the bed. He hears Edward’s voice in his ear and brush his skin without a single step forward. “He’s awake then? Food is coming. Afterwards, we must meet in my office. There is much to discuss.”

Food is brought to them by an unfamiliar face that seems uncannily timid as he enters holding a tray laden with the components of a delightfully filling meal. The attendant is mortal, courtesy of Edward’s consideration of Harry’s hostility when his mate is vulnerable. Harry flips on a nightstand lamp and drags Louis onto his lap, pausing briefly to massage his Omega’s thighs to render a giggle from the boy. He brings the tray into Louis’ vicinity and kisses random spots on his mate’s skin while he ate.

Louis devoured the rice and fried chicken with vegetables. He spared a few thoughts on where Edward might have gotten this food for him when their city seemed to be struggling for basic essentials. Harry brushed through Louis’ hair and pressed his lips to the curve of Louis’ shoulders, before continuing down his spine along each knob in his back.

“Would you like more?” Harry cups Louis’ cheek and angles the boy’s head to the side, kissing his lover deeply so he spoke with their lips brushing against each other.

“No thanks.” Louis stretched like a feline awakening from their most satisfying nap. He rolled off Harry’s knees and curled up on the bed, his hand over his belly. “Have you spoken to your pup yet?”

Harry lost the air in his lungs at that question, and crawled over to his mate where his head could rest on Louis’ tummy. He had a frown etched onto his brow but it was of concentration and commitment to feeling the life being nurtured by his mate. “I told my baby many stories in your slumber. Perhaps you can tell me if they appreciated it.”

“They did.” Louis drew odd circles around his belly button and his path was impeded by Harry’s larger paw coming to rest over the space between his hipbones. He laughs at his Alpha’s lips leaving that skin laden with audible kisses. “Are you not angry with me?”

“Why would I be, little one?” Harry hid his face against Louis’ front with a breathy exhale, his sharp molars scraping the soft skin.

“I don’t know. This isn’t the finest time to find out I’m pregnant.” Louis admits nervously, watching the gap between the door and its hinges. He could almost swear that the silhouette behind it ended in a silver orb pulsing as it studied him. One blink and the image was gone.

“Little one, when we conceived this pup we could never have known what would befall us. I’d now rather relive that misfortune than give up this baby.” Harry’s words are imprinted on by earnest honesty that steals Louis’ breath. His next words are hoarse, straight from Harry’s proud wolf. “We will secure a home, little one, in which our pup can grow in the absence of any danger. Allow me the time to do this much for my family.”

*    *    *    *    *

“You freely leave your mate unattended in my home? I am honoured to have earned so much of your trust so soon, brother.” Edward does not look up from his suddenly loaded desktop where more than merely an abundance of papers were roping his attention. It was like a magic trick.

Harry did have the gall to admit that the reason he left Louis to rest would be the Omega’s irrefutable command to be left alone so he can sleep. The Alpha was given no choice when he stood at the mercy of his pregnant mate who was not going to be moved. “You must know who has access to your home and whether or not they’d be a threat.”

“Don’t worry, Harry. Nobody will seek to harm a love of mine in my own home.” Edward spoke nonchalantly even if his words held a hint of murderous avenging. “Their price to pay will be delivered directly to me.”

“That hardly grants me any ease when your only reassurance seems to come from have excellent punishments. My mate needs protection now.”

“Not a soul has navigated these halls without my permission and lived to boast about it.” Edward steeples his fingers beneath his chin and waited patiently for Harry sit as well. His fingers twirled his pen in the meanwhile, creating an unnerving chorus of clicking sounds to fill the empty room.

Harry drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair, his jaw screwed tight and his eyes hooded in their mixed forms of darkness. He was restless and his wolf was no less in need of a way forward. “What have you learned?”

“Through new information from my sources, it has become known that our grandfather took his wolves well out of our reach.” Edward explains with no hint of pessimism or hopefulness. It still alarms Harry how casual the vampire appears to be in the face of so many horrors. “We can find them easily but the problem may reside in this.”

A letter, crumpled and with a broken wax seal is handed across the table to Harry. The wolf scowls at the hint of saltiness from spilt blood on the parchment paper; this letter is the true specimen that had been intercepted to attain. Harry scans over the document containing few but succinct points.

Harry squashes the paper in his fist from the unhindered frustration it renders in him before stalking across the room to a window. He sees none of what lays before him in the repercussions of the day’s outstanding tempest that seemed to shake the ground. His wolf stirs and it is growing more towards the edge, more bloodthirsty as the traitors continue to exceed his wishes.

“When did you find this?” Harry does not return to Edward’s close proximity. He fears the right trigger might cause him to harm the only ally they have.

The vampire offers a Gallic shrug, a true mark of his inhuman grace. Nonetheless, he too seems perturbed by this new notice. “It came to me an hour ago.”

The Alpha’s roar was poorly submerged by willpower and Edward woke to fetch alcohol he will not consume when his brother’s exclamation of rage caused his possessions to vibrate. Harry read the letter again but nothing about its poisonous words had changed.

_Son,_

_I received your letter with the fullest heart and intend to find you once more when the time is right. Me and mine congratulate you on the conquering of this battle even if it jeopardised the affections of one disloyal boy of yours. The other, I have not heard from and have no doubt they will find one another. If they should come to me, fellow Alpha, I will send word to you so you may collect them. I want little to do with bastard twins and their companions._

_Yours,_

_Alfred._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please please please leave a comment letting me, your humble servant, know whether or not you approved of this story or not. I missed Edward, sue me. Come say hi on Instagram (@sumans98) because it gets pretty lonely there. All my love.


	3. III

After being left to his own company in the bedroom otherwise only occupied by Edward, Louis tries to sleep but his thoughts are too run away with worry to allow him such a luxury. He stayed under the sinfully silken sheets with his body sprawled out across the Egyptian mattress and his head cradled by some of the softest pillows he’s ever come to know. Since discovering that they were such marvellous creations, Louis’ dragged them to his chest and clutched the decadent texture to him. Unknown to him or not, the lingering scent of the bed’s owner filled his senses to soothe those troubles Louis wasn’t aware of.

He thought of his dream that featured Harry’s vampire brother and felt shame seep into his system, causing him to attempt burying himself deeper into the covers. The image of Edward smirking at him like they were old friends sharing in their devious youthful secrets floats gloats into Louis’ mind. It’s as if he’s trying to escape the haunting memory when he rolls over to face the panoramic window occupying the expanse of the entire far wall. The glass pane looks out over the city’s abandoned region, before the great wall closes them off from the rest of the world.

Louis first sees the gloriously pale moon hanging low in the sky, an inaudible whimper falling from his lips as his inner wolf collapses to the ground. He hides behind a pillow that isn’t his and eyes his surroundings with a sigh. Harry has been gone for close to an hour and Louis has been for that entire duration rubbing his belly, humming at odd intervals to his pup.

It occurs to him no sooner than he begins to contemplate their current dilemma that Edward’s invasion of his most private thoughts is far beyond being uncalled for. He was momentarily lost his anger when the actual flickers of Edward’s face came into his mind, and the words the vampire spoke haunt him as well. Why Louis didn’t convey his discomfort immediately will puzzle him for as long as he tries to ignore the fact that the graze of Edward’s lips on his knuckles is not still tingling.

Feeling restless, Louis wakes up from the bed and walks to the window with his arms wrapped around himself. There is nothing fascinating to gaze upon as the enclosed city recovers from a severe storm. Louis rubs his arms to give his hands something to do, before turning on his heel and walking further into the room. He tries to door, naturally, to ascertain if he has the means to venture outside this bedroom but as suspected, it’s locked.

There’s a bathroom tucked into the corner that Louis discovers and decides to take advantage of. He strips off his clothes at the sight of a frosted glass shower, and tests the water’s temperature until it runs through his fingers at the ideal touch. He smells each of the foreign scented body gels before using the most subtle one, and making sure none of his prior grime remained on his skin. His abandoned clothing has no replacement so Louis thinks he can remain locked in the bathroom long enough to wash what he has presently.

Before long, Louis is switching off the tap and turns to exit through the door he had cracked open but freezes with a dark silhouette is waiting for him. He involuntarily steps away from how close this intruder appears to be, hugging his frame to maintain what modesty is masked from his fellow occupant. Louis’ heart pounds in his chest and the reverberating pulse can be felt at his temple, causing anxiety to sweep over his conscience.

The curls that can be seen, albeit blurrily, brushing the intruder’s shoulders match the visage of Louis’ newest acquaintance. He feels no anger or fear like he planned to surfaces, so instead Louis leans his forehead against the glass dividing them with sealed eyes.

“You’re not Harry, are you?” Louis can speak softly enough to be heard only in his thoughts but Edward’s face in his mind still splits into a smirk.

“No, my sweet wolf.” The voice comes through the dispersing steam and Louis involuntarily backs away when the shadow comes closer. “I see you found my shower.”

Louis squeezes the excess water out of his hair. “I needed to get clean.”

“Any home of mine is home to my brother and his lover.” Edward sounds like a chuckle is lacing the customary lilt to his words. “Are you going to come out?”

“Not with you standing there.” Louis sighs, astonished by his own carelessness towards this privacy being ruined.

The vampire’s shadow retreats after his hand comes down on the glass. Edward is silent in his departure except it feels no less intimate than having the man breathe down Louis’ neck to entice goosebumps.

“Edward?” Louis calls out, looking through the glass but seeing no sign of the other immortal present.

A hum reaches his ear followed by the sound of something glass being set down.

“Why were you in my dreams?”

“Was I?” That notorious chuckle is back, curbing the accent Edward carries as a result of his fangs. “Most don’t remember our shared dreams.”

Louis jumps when a towel is tossed over the shower door, quickly yanking it free and draping it around him. He would revel in how fluffy the fabric is beneath his fingertips but the click of retreating heels keeps him enraptured. “I suppose that’s because I didn’t ask you to find a way into my head.”

“You’re going to need me, my sweet wolf. When you do, it will be for that which my brother cannot help you with.”

“Don’t speak about him like he’s incompetent. My Harry is twice as noble as anyone you could ever know.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, Louis.” Edward mirrors Louis’ frustration as he curls his fist against the counter, pushing off it with such force that it shudders. His voice is an avalanche of annoyance at whatever internal struggle he is harbouring. “Let the time come, my sweet wolf. You will ask for me.”

*    *    *    *    *

Harry walks into the bedroom to find Louis curled up in a chair that’s been dragged to the window; his Omega was reading a book probably discovered in one of the nightstands, but is now entirely fixated by the night sky. He abandons his boots at the door before dragging his surprisingly sluggish body across the carpet to sit by Louis’ legs, burying his face in the boy’s thighs.

“Hey.” Louis smiles wryly, seemingly tugged from his faraway thoughts. He straightens his back and lays a palm over his belly while the other goes to brush through Harry’s hair.

His mate grumbles in greeting, pulling himself up to lay his head on Louis’ lap. “You showered?”

“Yeah.” Louis replies with a mild yawn. “What did you and Edward find out to help us?”

Harry debated with himself on whether or not to inform Louis of every detail when there is a fourth member of their company growing dependently on his mate. The stress would be gruesome. “We may have to diverge in our initial plan, little one. Not all is as we anticipated.”

Louis gets up and follows Harry when the latter makes his way into the bathroom. “What about your grandfather?”

The Alpha tells Louis about the letter and Edward’s suggestion that they remain in this city until a more concrete plan can be conjured. Harry’s sibling swore to have a safe destination plotted before Louis’ pregnancy reaches the stages where he needs a permanent nest. Louis chews over the proposition as it stands while Harry gets ready to shower, sitting propped up on the bathroom counter with his legs rigid over the edge.

It makes Louis question why this is happening at all. How can such a severe plan be in place and have Harry totally oblivious to it? The Alpha’s family is entirely untrustworthy and each one traitors for the same reason but what would possess them to outcast Harry along with his vampire brother?

“It doesn’t make sense.” Louis says to himself but Harry hears him even over the spray of blistering hot water turning his skin nearly bloodshot.

“I know, Omega.”

“No.” Louis waves his hand dismissively at his Alpha, his brow scrunched up in a frown. “Why is it that your family decided to keep you and Edward out of their plans from the beginning?”

“I told you they consulted with me on the territory move and I rejected their proposal.”

“Yes, but you two are the next generation of Styles. They would not let you go so easily.” Louis finds the thought behind this harsh banishment puzzling. “Besides that one attempt they didn’t bother trying to change your mind again?”

“No.” Harry leaves his hair dripping wet from washing out a single layer of shampoo. He steps out from under the water and goes to Louis with a towel around his waist. “Little one, I don’t want this to trouble you now.”

Louis blows hair out of his eyes with a frustrated pout and stretches out towards Harry, wiggling his fingers until the Alpha is within reach so he can plant himself on the man’s hips. He keeps his limbs wound tightly around his broader than life mate, ignoring the growing dampness of his clothes and Harry’s fingers combing through his hair.

“Do you think there’s a third?” Louis could not recognise his own voice when it was swathed in conspiracy.

Harry frowns. “A third brother?”

His Omega nods warily and inconsistent with Harry’s thoughts. “It’s possible, you know.”

“It is, little one.” Harry reaches up to set Louis’ disarrayed fringe. “Why do you think they chose one over two others?”

A clearing throat interrupts them. Harry’s Alpha senses were not alarmed by the sudden presence of the only vampire in the hemisphere in the doorway. He accommodates Louis when his mate merely leans into him, hiding in the dominant’s chest rather than facing their visitor.

“I don’t know about a third Styles son, brother, but your mate may have started down a valid path.” Edward contributes from his placement, not a muscle other than his lips moving in his casual stance leaning against the door.

Harry looks at his mate where Louis has taken to seeking warmth in the crook of his neck. He does not want to disregard the input of his mate so acquiesces with a nod. “Can you look into it?”

“That depends.” Edward crosses his arms and steps further into the bathroom with a sauntering pace. “Do you and Louis consent to staying here long enough for me to consult with my sources?”

“Being on the run is hardly something I received training for, Edward.” The Alpha sighs, pressing his lips to Louis’ temple. “We’ll stay here for now.”

“A new home is easier to find than you’d imagine.” Edward points out. “There is a town I monitored close to the ocean that will serve you both well. No more than three hundred residents, I believe, and each one lives sufficiently far away from the other to allow copious amounts of privacy.”

“Later, Edward.” Harry sighs, exuding more emotional strain than he’d care to. He watches his brother’s departure through the mirror before resigning to help Louis off the counter. “How do you feel about staying here for a while longer, little one?”

Louis reappears from hiding and briefly glances at the empty doorway before slipping off the counter’s edge. He keeps his hands on Harry’s forearms for the trip into the blackened bedroom when dizziness threatens to overrule him. There’s a moment in passing the spot where Edward stood during which Louis experienced a mild chill across his neck but he pretended to be oblivious to it, casting his gaze to the floor instead.

“I don’t mind.” He replied eventually. “We shouldn’t move around until after baby is feeling more certain.”

Harry comes back to Louis donning merely pyjama bottoms that are sinfully silken and much too close to Edward’s style. He strategically crawls up the length of the mattress to pause at Louis’ belly where he lays his head, burrowing into the bare skin beneath a traitorous shirt. Thoughts of his pup rendered a flutter in Harry’s chest nearest to his heart; he is certain that mention of his baby might soften any anger he experiences.

“That would be wise, little one.” Harry nods drunkenly, angling his head to kiss a circular formation around the heartbeat of their unborn love.

“Where does Edward sleep?” Louis asks quietly, his hand in Harry’s hair but his eyes on the ceiling high above.

Harry thinks the question to be strange. “He doesn’t sleep, love.”

“Then what’s the bed for?” His Omega ponders out loud, his cheeks heating at the silent answer he gets in the form of Harry’s amused expression. Louis’ face morphs into one of disgust. “That’s gross, Harry. We’re in the bed that your brother has sex in?”

“No, little love.” Harry’s laughter is boisterous as he pins Louis’ hips beneath him and steals a kiss from his mate. “I smell nothing on the sheets.”

“Harry.” Louis draws himself into an upright position and beckons his Alpha to him with a crooked finger. He felt a chill seep into his bones and the thrill of a secret is dissolved by the powerful owner of this home. “How do we know we can trust him?”

His Alpha shows no outrage; Harry nods and his sobered expression is uncontested. “Because we could not trust any man of my bloodline before him?”

“Yes.” Louis did not want to be soft-hearted about this. “What if he’s not our ally?”

“He might or might not be, little one. I cannot tell now and may not be able to for a while. For now, we trust him.” Harry captures either side of Louis’ face in his hands and kisses him fervently. “Nothing will harm you or my pup.”

“Silly wolf.” Louis nips at his Alpha’s lip with an audible whine. “I’m not worried about me. Don’t you dare forget to come back to me, Harry Styles, ever.”

*    *    *    *    *

Louis’ dreams are once more invaded when he laid his head on the pillow; no amount of desperate denial could keep Edward from his slumber. He is in a forest this time that’s experiencing the aftermath of a breath-taking snowfall. The same tree he met Edward under the first time stood hunched and weeping the drapery of dying leaves before him. His companion awaited him just in front of the structure, pacing from root to trunk with his lip pinched between two fingers.

“I wish-” Edward stopped midsentence to stride up to Louis, coming to a halt when their faces are inches apart. His shirt is blood red atop black leather pants and it made his deathly pale skin almost shimmer beneath an absent moon. “You doubting my loyalty has wounded me, Louis.”

The Omega wolf turns away when Edward tries securing his gaze. “I’d be a fool if I didn’t at least learn to trust you first, Edward.”

Edward hisses, a pained sound, and stalks away. “I can forgive this because you, my sweet wolf, have been through a lot.”

“Both Harry and I have been betrayed by the family we were promised.” Louis defensively fires back, crossing his arms when Edward merely stares emptily at him. “You must understand my fears.”

“I am _not_ that family which let you down, Louis.”

“How can I know for sure?” Louis stepped into Edward’s proximity and looked up at the looming immortal. “You have to understand, Edward. These are scary circumstances.”

The vampire makes a strained groan that conveys a fundamental trace of hurt. He turns away from Louis to make his way towards the tree at his back. “Wait for me then to earn your trust, my sweet wolf. I’m going to make a grand show of it.”

“That’s not my point, Edward.”

“Yes, but it is mine.” Suddenly Edward is in Louis’ face, his fangs glistening and exposed as an undying reminder of who is in his company. The Omega jumps involuntarily at the harsh echo of Edward’s voice when he abruptly unleashes a deep exclamation, his arms spread out at his sides. “ _I am Master of the City!_ I may do as I wish to honour the ones I treasure or cause enough blood to spill for my mere entertainment. Dear one, I am your only ally and you may not appreciate that now but I assure you, none will serve you with as much devotion.”

Louis does not step back when their bodies become so aligned as to share radiated heat. “You will not be serving me. Not anymore than you will be looking after yourself.”

A grave chuckle fell from the other’s lips. His eyes held hints of disgrace and dissatisfaction for the boy that would not yield. “Awaken now, my sweet wolf. This conversation can only come to hurt us further.”

“Edward.” Louis does not hesitate to reach up and cradle the vampire’s cheek in his delicate palm, shuddering at the brusque and fascinating chill of his flesh. He meets Edward’s eye after some effort. “You are my mate’s brother and I know you are not lying, but please. I ask that you have patience with me until I am entirely certain my family is no longer in danger.”

“Ever since our family decided to cast us out, Louis, we have been in danger. That will not change unless we confront them but we have neither the time nor resources to do so.” Edward captures Louis’ hand where it secured his cheek and kissed the boy’s palm before abandoning the touch. “Our priority will be finding a new home but for now, we wait.”

“Will you be there too? In our new home, I mean.”

Edward’s chuckle is the first unrestricted sound he hears from the vampire, and it is a wonderfully seductive sound that could only come from a creature so abominable. Whoever decided to grant Edward his horrid scars and retractable fangs gave him the aura of a most powerful immortal with the features of a gallant wolf.

“I think that might be too crowded.” He finally says, watching the path of Louis’ attention. “We’ll see where my lover in time takes us.”

*    *    *    *    *

“None live truly happily ever after, my little Omega.” Harry solemnly states while lazing back with his head cradled by Louis’ belly. His mate had just completed reading one of the few books Edward’s shelves contained and he was not disillusioned by the tale.

Louis had his Alpha’s eyes covered with one dainty wrist, letting Harry seek familiarity in his scent alone. “Not even us?”

“We live in a reality, lover, and _happily ever after_ means there is no promise of hardship. Can you say without doubt that is true for us?”

Today had begun with a start and Harry planned to meet Edward for the discussion of matters that Louis hadn’t enquired about, but Louis also wanted Harry to stay with him for a bit. He had watched the Alpha kiss him before disappearing into the bathroom, then walking back out with a raised eyebrow at Louis’ forlorn expression.

It took little to convince Harry before the Alpha came to him again, resigning to a fate in which Louis kept him in bed for as long as he wished. Trouble could wait a day.

“Our story is worthy of the stars and not merely forgotten pages.” Harry rolled over with an elegance that a burly Alpha should not possess and pulled himself up over to blanket Louis. “Don’t you think?”

Louis kissed Harry’s chin and nudged the Alpha with his knee. “I think that if you’re going to be up there you better be planning something beneficial to us both.”

An hour later when Edward comes to see why his brother failed to meet him in the morning, he hisses and covers his eyes at the sight on his bed. Nothing immodest may be on display for Louis is partially asleep on Harry’s chest, bare in every regard but covered by a sheet over his hips. Harry had momentarily allowed his nature to lapse and at Edward’s entry, turns hostile. He growls threateningly at his brother and hides Louis from sight as much as he can, enveloping the increasingly conscious boy in his arms.

Edward is of his blood and has so far provided them with no reason to doubt him, but Harry has his vulnerable mate still bound to his knot. He’ll do anything physically in his power to protect the boy that travelled through troubled woods to find a new home, which included seeing Edward as a threat.

“Get out!” Louis screamed at the apathetic vampire, urging him to leave while the initial stirrings of Harry’s beast began rumbling beneath his fingertips. “Now, Edward! Leave!”

In a striking moment the vampire disappears from the doorway, the ghost of his impassive expression still lingering there when Louis turns away. He hears the creaking door slide shut across the rug before attempting to subdue the restless Alpha. Louis cradles Harry’s face in his palms and kisses him deeply, taking into himself the steam that a territorial wolf exudes when cornered or aggressive. He wraps his arms around Harry’s shoulders and leans forward to whisper soothingly in his ear.

“Shh. It’s okay, my love. He’s gone.” Louis nuzzles the side of Harry’s neck where a strong pulse beats against the flushed skin. He bathes in the warmth of a protective Alpha, unknowingly arching into it when Harry starts running his hands down the length of his body.

Harry’s voice has disintegrated into the embers of an Alpha’s echo; the chilling combination of growl and grumble coming but only in the most strenuous of circumstances. It was as if Harry’s wolf spoke to Louis rather than the man who harboured it. “I could have killed him. The only one who can help us, little one, and I wanted him dead.”

Louis ignores the morbidity of the confession as he fully comprehends a dominant’s desire to shield their mate. “Edward didn’t know, Alpha. He came to see where you were, nothing more.”

“ _He should have known._ ” Harry seethed with clenched jaws, his glare fixated on the shut door. “Did he see any part of you, my mate?”

“No.” Louis answered though he was not certain of it. He was hardly concerned with modesty when Harry was too close to becoming an actual monster beneath him. “He didn’t, Harry. It’s alright now, Alpha.”

Harry needed more comfort than that so he reached down between them and inspected the condition of their adjoining knot. It would soon settle enough for their bodies to separate and the possessive instincts dictating Harry’s present actions was uneasy at the thought. He looked into his mate’s eyes, unhindered, and with that pinned gaze promised more when this knot went down. Louis’s cheeks heated and he glanced away at the wall, embarrassed like only virgins were entitled to. He waited to cuddle his mate and when he did, Harry’s skin against his eased so many worries.

It was hardly a second after Harry’s knot began to soften that the Alpha dropped Louis onto his back and moved his hips again. Louis managed only to grapple for the sheets when Harry’s body cloaked his in that undeniably protective manner, gasping in ragged intakes as the man thrusted fluidly into him. He whimpered at the sound and feel of Harry’s earlier release lubricating his rough penetration.

Louis let his jaw fall agape and gripped Harry’s biceps to feel them bulge or flex as the Alpha supported his own weight above his lover. Harry leaned in to nibble on the thoroughly marked skin of Louis’ neck, his torso vibrating with smothered growls of possession. He forgot the entangling sheets and listened to Louis’ low cries of pleasure; his fists curled beside Louis’ head so he could speed up. Making love is exquisite and deliberate but getting to ravish his beloved with deep, wild thrusts were unspeakably manic.

The body beneath him quivered as Louis ascended to his peak and found Harry’s lips to connect their mouths in a kiss too akin to ravaging. Harry groaned into the union and flicked his tongue against Louis’, feeling his mate’s hands slide down his back to bring him closer. There must be the finest feeling in the world that resides in Harry burying himself in Louis’ body at every opportune moment. Harry bares his teeth and struggles to hold back any sounds of fierce satisfaction when he is joined to his mate so irrevocably.

Louis’ breathing turned rapid and choppy at the same time that Harry altered the angle at which his hips collided with his mate’s. The Alpha felt his knot throbbing as his girth began to expand, desperate to lock within Louis’ core. One of an Alpha’s proudest moments were those times when he gave his wolf the chance to taste his mate in the form of a knot, uniting their bodies and strengthening a bond crafted ages ago by ancient magic.

Harry said nothing when he commenced his odd but not outrageous ritual of dragging his tongue across random planes of Louis’ skin. He’d make estranged, gruff noises from the depths of his torso as he scented his mate. By past experience Harry’s favourite spot to leave laden with his saliva happened to be Louis’ chest where the Omega’s heart raced, or across his dusky little nipples where he could spend extra time suckling on the pebbled nubs. Those would be the source of nutrition for his pup and Harry just liked to check up on them occasionally.

*    *    *    *    *

“Had I wanted a show, brother, I would have asked.” Edward comments upon being allowed to re-enter the bedroom he no longer owns.

Harry responds to the nonchalant remark with a corruptible snarl. He is soothed by Louis’ hand petting his torso over the rabbiting thunder of his pulse, and turns away from his antagonistic brother. Louis speaks for him, leaving his perch on the Alpha’s shoulder with a peck to the brooding muscle. “Please choose your words wisely, Edward.”

“Be at ease, Louis.” Edward raises his hands in surrender, making his way to the lonesome chair at the bedside. “I hope to never provoke my brother here again.”

Louis appreciatively nodded at the immortal other, setting his chin on Harry’s tense shoulder once more and lowered his gaze. Harry is brushing his knuckles over Louis’ spine and occasionally giving his Omega kisses across his face. “Is the reason for this intrusion so urgent that you could not wait outside the first time?”

“My source has impeded the path of another letter.” Edward extracts the aforementioned article from his pocket and is surprised when Louis takes it first.

The Omega sits up, his back straight and prim as a pin, when he unfolds the paper. Harry does nothing to placate his mate and sits against the headboard patiently while Louis’ eyes grow more alarmed with each word. “If you’re going to steal it, little one, I suggest you read it out loud.”

“Right, sorry.” Louis clears his throat and begins. “Dear Albert. We have gotten word of my son’s location just yesterday and you were right. They found each other. Now, I believe Marcus is growing restless where you have him in your barracks. If Edward and Harry are together then Marcus knows and he will seek them out. Do not let him.”

Louis tosses the letter aside on the bed and lets his head fall into his hands. Harry instinctively makes to comfort his mate; he runs his hands along Louis’ sides and kisses him numerous times until a semblance of warmth returns to those lips.

“You were right, Louis.” Edward sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers beneath his chin, gaze intent. “Do you know the name Marcus, brother?”

Harry shakes his head. He has an excellent memory and on a good day could remember how many water droplets he counted rolling down the packhouse windows when he was a child. “I take it that you do?”

“Not until this morning.” Edward met Louis’ eye where the Omega rested against Harry’s torso, his hands curled between the heated body of his mate and himself. “I called on a personal favour from a man who knows our past and would not lie to me. He awaits us now in my office.”

“I’m coming with.” Louis interjects. He will not be left out of a struggle that is all imparted on them equally; it hardly seemed fair.

“I have no objection.” Edward smirks in the dark and the appearance of his fangs causes a part of Louis to shudder. The vampire seemed to notice and when he winked at the Omega time seemed to freeze for that fraction of a second, suspending them in a period long enough for him to execute the act.

Harry brought his hand up to Louis’ nape and thumbed over the protruding knob just beneath his the pad of his thumb. He couldn’t have known about the explicit sliver of time that was carved out and toyed with to allow Edward his scandalous reprieve, but Louis burrowed into his Alpha’s chest seeking comfort anyway.

After Edward leaves, Harry then allows Louis to wake up from his lap with a rather uncharacteristic squeeze to the Omega’s behind. He never attempted affection so juvenile before but having his mate’s derriere that close to his face and to refrain from showing it some kind of adoration is unthinkable. Louis gasps at the sudden treatment and stumbles when Harry retracts his earlier separation by tugging Louis back against him. There’s a motivation behind an Alpha’s riveting lack of wanting to part from their mates after knotting, and it had to originate in the combination of their scents.

Louis’ body dripped this sinful allurement down the inside of his thighs and Harry steadied him briefly before parting those warm mounds, letting his tongue travel up a slight path to where his Omega was most sensitive now. Harry dove into the damp forbidden core and lapped at the crucial taste. Louis could just about withhold a shriek at the sensation coursing through him from where Harry’s tongue circled his entrance, reaching back to fist the Alpha’s trademark dark curls. He loved the grounding any contact with Harry allowed him but now seemed insufficient as his lover gripped his hips almost ferociously, nuzzling deeper Louis’ body. Harry moaned at the successful intrusion of his tongue pressing against the taut muscle keeping him at bay, allowing his thumbs to extend inwards, gently opening up for himself what he desired greatly.

For whatever reason that convinced Harry a delay would be acceptable, Louis also decided to take advantage of it. He allowed his Alpha to obscenely eat him out until the faintest traces of his slick and Harry’s seed were solely on Harry’s tongue or staining the skin around his mouth. Harry looked ravenous, deep green eyes turning black with arousal once more and Louis didn’t have to venture further than the scent permeating the air to know his Alpha was in need again.

Harry licked his lips explicitly while Louis pushed his dominant down, watching seduction switch to slight mirth when he climbed into a position astride the Alpha’s lap. “Would you say we have sufficient time for this, little one?”

Louis glowered at the Alpha. He slapped his palm over Harry’s mouth to stifle any more objections and took what he was made greedy for. Harry studied his petite lover intently, with an unfathomable amount of heat behind his devoted gaze. He knew his mate to be brave and confident enough to command anything he wanted but seeing Louis unify their bodies once more filled him with pride and guiltless arousal. His inner Alpha was swelling with fondness for his Omega.

“You look most radiant up there, little one.” Harry managed to speak when he sucked two of Louis’ fingers into his mouth rather than allowing them to burden his speech. He tugged once and Louis fell forward with a high-pitched gasp.

Rather than glowing from the compliment Louis silenced Harry’s impending comments by connecting their mouths. He felt his Alpha’s smile and giggled without much compensation, merely continuing the graceful rise-and-fall of his hips. When Harry got up off the bed, Louis locked his ankles around the man’s waist and threaded his fingers through Harry’s hair for grounding. He was taken into the shower with already running water, steam muffling their pleasured noises and blurring their frantic love.

Harry worried about keeping Edward waiting but it was a faint reminder when Louis was bare and open for him; he’d rather stay here and continue this divine rhythm of magnetising their skin. He groaned when their bodies aligned perfectly and he could feel Louis’ belly dip with each breath, placing his palm over where their pup rests peacefully. Louis pants against his lips and a smaller hand grasps Harry’s, holding it securely over where a slight roundness has begun to form.

“I’ll give you six months after this pup is born.” Harry’s lips curl into a smug grin, releasing an abrupt chuckle when Louis appears unimpressed. “That’s my bargain, little one. I’m going to put another pup in you as soon as I can.”

Louis raised his eyebrow quizzically. “If you’re getting your knot in me again after I have this pup it’s because I didn’t cut it off during the birth.”

Harry shuddered visibly. “Should I keep away from you?”

“You better not!” Louis looked outraged. “You will be there when I bring this baby into the world, Harry Styles, or so help me I’ll do something you can’t heal from.”

“Violence does not become you, little one.” Harry laughs, cupping Louis’ cheek and stealing a kiss. “I do fear you above all else however which should flatter you immensely, my darling minx.”

*    *    *    *    *

Louis dresses quicker than Harry does and waits impatiently by the door for his Alpha to pull a shirt over his head. He listens to his tummy rumble as indicative of his forgetfulness when it came to eating. Abandoning his shoes for bare feet, Louis doesn’t wait for Harry to complain about it before he’s walking out the door. Harry keeps a firm hand on Louis’ waist as they navigate through the hallway in the direction of Edward’s study.

Upon arriving, there’s an unanticipated tray of food waiting on Edward’s desk while the man himself stood by the only window of his casino that looked out on the nasty side of this dying city. Some might argue that all regions were decrepit but there’s the area populated by poverty that cannot be mistaken for those managing to cover their bills.

“Now that we’re all present and no more foreseeable delays are expected, have a seat.” Edward is utterly impassive save for the grim set of his lips as he gestures to the open chairs. “The food is for you, Louis.”

The Omega thanks him for the consideration with a warm smile riddled with nothing exceeding politeness, and tries to mask his confusion at the blank stare he gets from the vampire in return. Louis organises himself to be comfortable in his seat and Harry brings the food to him before he can stretch across a distance to retrieve it. Rather than occupying the other empty chair Harry settles down on the floor between Louis’ legs and rests his cheek on his mate’s knee.

“Where is the guest?” Harry asks his brother.

Louis in that moment had eyes only for the omelette and chicken soup, but paused mid-chew when something like a frigid breeze cause the hairs on his nape to stand up. Edward’s study is always plunged in the most throttling type of darkness that was not only a phenomenon to cause blindness but wrapped around one’s lungs and delved into one’s chest. It was the pitch black shadow that vampires were known for thriving in and wolves are not meant to prosper in.

However, outside this unsettling aura there was a fourth presence hidden where Edward knew they would not see it upon first arrival. He and the stranger hoped not to cause fear or pain, but to experiment with the well-known sixth sense of pregnant Omegas when put into a room with another so familiar yet so nameless. Edward would not tell either of them beforehand who this was for a single reason; he knows Louis will recognise the new arrival without more than a guess.

Something was shielding the ambiance of the room because when Louis risks a glance at the far left corner, it crumbles. Harry’s Alpha senses the change like a storm that crashes down with no warning, no mercy. He growls at the personifying shadow as it steps out without knowing the sound to fill the tense room so absolutely. Louis turns to the heavy footsteps with no fear but much curiosity. A hand that is Harry’s wraps around his calf – a display of claiming – before rising to his feet so suddenly it was a true testament to his strength that he did not waver in his stance.

The mysterious stranger is tall and lean, less prone to merciless muscle or any feature that might heighten their aggression. Their cloak is enough to hide all of their identity save for the pale skin of his chin, one with the faintest dip in the centre. Gloved hands lay limp at their sides as they straightened their back and more of their visage became visible; a pair of lips so red that may be permanently bloody curled at the ends to form a smirk too sinister to deny.

“Who is this?” Harry does not accept the hooded individual that comes forth with anything less than hostility. Something about them sets him on edge.

Louis looks to Edward and finds the latter watching him in return. His eyes were reflecting a single glimmer in an abyss; he goaded Louis on without a word. Instead of indulging the ruthless vampire Louis shook his head and turned away, refusing to speak. It caused a flash of anger across Edward’s features but Louis resisted glancing his way again when that slight rage touched him.

“Marcus.” Harry speaks and he sounds drugged, a slur to his single word as awe takes him over. “You are Marcus.”

“I am.” Those lips move with a quickness that should be inhuman and impossible. “Edward sent word to me that you arrived with your mate and were in need of answers.”

“Why?” Louis asks the newest among them. He searches for a sign of familiarity and feels like he’s being watched in return. “Why are you here if you are Marcus?”

“You think I would lie?”

“The last letter between men who all but _exiled_ us made it sound like you are loyal to them.” Louis fires back, pushing the tray aside to get on his feet. Except stepping any further closer is forbidden by his Alpha’s arms winding tightly around his midsection. “Why would you come to us now when you do not have to?”

“But I do have to.” Marcus responds, finally bringing his hands up to pull back the hood of his ashen cloak. It falls onto his shoulders and nearly all the muscles in Louis’ system freeze, as does Harry turn stiff as a log behind him.

Marcus has distinct, round grey eyes and the faint beginnings of a stubble across his defined facial structure. His cheeks were hollow enough to look starved, the bruised rings beneath his eyes being nothing short of tiresome. His nose and chin were sharp, pointed like the lilt of his voice. Those were what set him apart from Harry and Edward; he was not similar enough to share as many genes as they did but he is of their blood.

“Wow.” Louis sighs, pushing his damp hair back from his eyes. He answers his Alpha’s call of displeased curiosity by gently squeezing Harry’s wrist. “I don’t know if I’m glad to be as unaware of your family tree as you are.”

Someone emits a short sound of amusement and Edward is the guilty party as comes around his desk to sit against it. “Marcus is not a twin but he is the brother chosen by our elders as the sole Styles descendant. He has come to fulfil a promise.”

Louis crosses his arms and looks to the bemused fourth party. “He plans to go back then, does he?”

“Aye.” Marcus conducts a brief, eccentric bow that is all the elegance of the Styles bloodline put into one action. He rises with a smile. “I swore to Edward years ago that I will come when you, brother Harry, found him. Fortunately, Edward’s messenger happened to reach me at a time when I’ve been promised peace for as long as it takes me to seek out a suitable mate.”

“They simply allowed you to leave so you could find an Omega?” Harry questions disbelievingly. He hasn’t stopped frowning since Marcus came out of hiding.

“They believe I am the Styles son who will lead our bloodline pack into the twisted future they have plotted out.” Marcus’ expression twists into something strained and of deep-rooted disturbance. “I was bred for that purpose.”

Louis scowls at the foul term. “Then why have more sons if they already had you?”

“They didn’t.” Marcus saunters nearer to where Louis stood, not ignorant of how Harry pulls Louis out of his path. “Edward and Harry were born on February first thirty-three years ago while I only came into this world five years later.”

“No offence, Marcus, but what made you so special?” Louis pays no mind to the way Harry’s fingers tighten around him or how Edward seems to be exhaling steam.

Humoured by the Omega’s boldness, Marcus handles the inquisition in his stride as a gracious dominant willing to pass down wisdom. He meets Louis’ eye and is only mildly startled by how those baby blues seem to see right through him. “I can’t answer that for my parents.”

Louis’ following exasperated look said everything his words could not, and Marcus allowed it to pass because Harry was close to busting a vein from Louis’ uncensored tendencies. His Omega never spoke to new acquaintances so bluntly and while it left his inner wolf riled up, the sensible portion of his brain did not appreciate others coming to marvel at Louis’ quirks either. Harry smothered his mate in his arms to send a silent warning, drawing Louis into an inescapable embrace.

“How long do you have on this quest for a mate?” Edward slices through the rigid silence with a clearing of his throat and step closer to their circle.

Marcus looked at both his siblings with nothing readable scattered across his brow. Louis thinks he could be the immortal void of physical weakness or emotional attachment that can be used against him. _I was bred for that purpose._

“Seven days.” Marcus answers, his forehead creasing just the slightest when he picks up on Louis’ examination of him. “I cannot let them find me here so I will have to leave in two hours.”

Harry knows the question Louis is dying to ask and does it for his Omega. “Where will you go?”

“That depends, brother.” Marcus drums his fingers along the armrest of the chair he occupied. “Have you any recommendations of where I can find a lover anything like yours?”

Edward stops the impending fight before it can take place. He comes to stand between his brothers, not needing to touch either one because Marcus did not turn aggressive and Louis had Harry’s violence under control. “We refrain from becoming too interested in another’s mate, Marcus. Whatever it is you were taught, one of the rules must have informed you that trying to unsettle an Alpha on the grounds of his mate is a true dishonour.”

To his credit, Marcus looks truly alarmed by this. “My sincerest apologies, Harry brother. I haven’t learnt the same values as you it would seem.”

Harry is unimpressed and sneers with devastating reverberations that bounce off the walls and rattle the lightbulbs. Some of the anger melts when he hugs his mate but much is left to simmer.

“How do we move forward?” Edward tries to recapture the civility of their conversation, stepping back to where he stood before.

Marcus appreciates the detour. “Once I leave communication via letter is much too unreliable. If we can intercept their messengers then so to can they with ours.”

“What are you hoping to achieve?” Louis raises the volume of his voice to be heard, self-conscious when three sets of eyes dart towards him. “You are each powerful but cannot overthrow the strongest pack in this part of the world.”

“We do not hope to, little one.” Harry answers him. “Marcus will return to the pack and offer us word on what they intend to do as time progresses.”

“If they plan on hunting us down or not.” Edward clarifies callously.

Louis looks at the third sibling. “Did they tell you what happened to us in the old pack?”

Marcus shakes his head, barely finishing the act before Louis continues.

“How could you rely on them to tell you if they plan to find us or not?” Louis grows aggravated and restless at his own accusations. “They’re not going to tell you when they decide on coming after us. You weren’t even supposed to know you had brothers, Marcus.”

Edward and Harry watch Louis’ outburst in astonishment, neither of whom have words afterwards to contend with the Omega’s fierceness. Marcus, however, leans forward in his chair and sets his elbows on his knees appearing more enthused. “You have no faith that I will find the means to achieve any scrap of information I desire? Give me a chance and I may just do enough to impress you.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I NEED AID. I mayyyyyyy have bitten off more than I could ever chew in the form of an Instagram post in which I need 8 000 likes to get a free sweater. If you could pretty please help me get there, I'd be forever in your debt.
> 
> Drop a smokin' hot comment below for me to read first thing in the morning or right now as I continue switching tabs with a hopeful expression. Next update will only hit the shores at 3k reads on this story.


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't wait.

Everyone was limited to the vicinity of Edward’s study by individual choice. The owner sat with his siblings at the grand desk while they discussed matter’s Louis only bothered with the outcomes of. Instead of eavesdropping he curled up on the only stiff, unpleasant blood red couch by the fire with a quilt that was incidentally draped over the back. Watching the fire crackle and blacken the stone wall it leaned against was half as entertaining as hearing the volume rise every few minutes when an inevitable disagreement broke out between the Styles brothers.

Somehow, after half an hour of unproductive reasoning that sent Edward brooding to the window and Harry slouched in defiance in his chair, Marcus woke up to find himself seated alongside Louis on the couch. The Omega didn’t flinch or bother moving to accommodate the dominant other; he sighed almost in exasperation and covered half his face in the blanket. Until he turned to the solace he found in the fire, and noticed an absolute standstill.

The flames weren’t roaring towards the chimney like before nor did the slightest rustle of the ash and embers accompany it. Louis panicked. His heart began to race and he straightened his back to look over the couch at the two men by the desk except they weren’t moving either. Dust seemed suspended in the air before him and Louis felt the freezing of time like a wind battering the inside of his chest.

“What-” He stammered, licking his lips to recover the fearful enquiry. Marcus was beside him as a picture of elegance while no primary hint of arrogance shone through his features. “What are you?”

Marcus looked at Louis with nothing to be found in his gaze besides apathy. This is who is he is, and it no longer shocks him. His arm reached out to lay across the back of Louis’ perch when the Omega sat up, his eyes darting to every point in the room in a frenzy. “I have not stopped time, darling. You just believe I have.”

“It’s not possible.” Louis shook his head, once more looking at Harry who was still like the air clogging his throat. “What are you talking about?”

“When I let you return to your senses, your Alpha will have had quite the fright after thinking you’d fainted.” Marcus explains. He drums his fingers on the leather cushions and lets his eye meet Louis’ fear. “To be so afraid is not good for your pup, Louis.”

“Then let me out of this!” Louis pleads, tossing his cover aside and rocking up on his haunches. Marcus’ surprise flickers through the cloudy grey of his eyes when the Omega grabs his arms, nails digging in. “Marcus, _please._ Let me go.”

There is something wretched and horrifying about being in full possession of one’s faculties but still unable to escape such an illusion as this. Louis felt helpless and without aid from even his Alpha; his mind was going to tear itself open.

“Look at me, Omega.” Marcus saw his plan being disintegrated and caught hold of Louis’ face, pinning those terrified baby blues with his own gaze. He felt nothing about Louis soften so he released a low purr to subdue the Omega’s disconcertion. “Don’t look away.”

The sound was soothing even if Louis didn’t want it to be. It wrapped around him like a soft shawl and kept out all the fears he could possibly have. He wanted to hate it as much as he loathed the man offering it but his inner Omega revelled in it, craved more comfort. When he looked up again from his lap, dire unrest had settled and his breathing was normal once more.

“What are you?” Louis whispered brokenly, a hiccup curbing his words. He pushes Marcus’ hands away and forces his inner submissive to abandon the warmth of silver pulsing orbs.

Marcus draws back with a sigh, keeping his eyes intently on Louis. “My brothers were not chosen because they represented individual species independently. It took five years for our father to get what he needed for my conception. I am what combines my brothers’ best characteristics, wolf and vampire, in a single vessel.”

“No.” Louis emits a strangles gasp. He stares wide-eyed at Marcus in measures of awe and fright. “That’s…- That is not meant to be.”

Species are not meant to be joined and it was decided by all races’ ancestors to make it so. Recombining the genes of two races could kill countless babies but if the immortal survived, they would be too uncontrollable to keep alive thereafter. Vampires are the rarest immortals but have powers that match the strength of wolves; Marcus is a hybrid of what should never have been joined.

Marcus has not told anyone about what blood he carried and how destructive it is. Years he has been locked away under his father’s orders and chained with steel to stone walls when his rage became too much to merely observe. He’s killed people, too many people, and Marcus has learned to feel no remorse. He is dominant to wolf and vampire alike now, which sets a chill in Louis’ spine.

“Believe me, darling. I spend some nights wishing it weren’t true as well.” Marcus separates his jaws and reveals all his teeth to be extensive fangs that Edward has only two of. They reach beyond his opposing lip and some scrape the skin, causing the flesh to bleed. Marcus retracts them deftly and licks his lips to remove the crimson droplets.

“Why are you telling me this?” Louis swallows thickly, still staring unblinkingly at Marcus’ lips. “I can’t help you.”

“You can’t but I swore that I’d tell someone the truth about what I am on this venture.” Marcus’ voice drops to a low, rumbling timbre. His insecurity surfaces and Louis sees something across his eyes flicker but not like a light, instead like darkness.

It’s Louis’ nature to forgive and he hates it sometimes but any wounded beast is worth his time. He feels what anxiety he had towards Marcus dissipate so that concern could emerge for the dangerous hybrid. Unknowingly, Louis shuffles a little closer to Marcus on the couch with time still frozen around them and the other male studying every move Louis makes.

“Tell me.” Louis prompts, offering his confounding maternal comfort by taking Marcus’ left hand between both of his. Those fingers are so calloused, the skin split so often that it’s now permanently ragged. Marcus watches Louis while the Omega reciprocates. “I’m listening, Marcus. Tell me.”

Marcus is in awe of Louis’ personality and the glow that emanates from within such a gorgeous creature. None of the submissives he was allowed to have the company of cared for his words and their bloodcurdling fear of him dictated all their actions toward him. To have Louis’ genuine attention after almost rupturing any chance at having it at all, Marcus can breathe lightly a prayer of thanks to the deity that created such a divine Omega. His brother is most fortunate.

Harry has one mating mark across his chest in maroon ink that formed during the making of their Bond, and it’s meant to represent their love in symbols of their oldest language. When Louis sees Marcus’ torso, his breath hitches at the sight of many inked designs spanning his entire chest and the edges of which looked like they were rubbed raw. They were scattered and disorderly as if to further punish the dominant for forfeiting so many bonds. Louis listens to Marcus’ confession about his ghastly temper being the reason his mates hated him so passionately and tried to escape him; the abandonment of their Alpha only triggered Marcus’ inner beast. He never let them leave even if they weren’t alive afterwards to admit defeat.

Louis whimpered at the news of slaughtered Omegas and hugged himself before he could help it. Marcus was watching him, searching for some kind of disgust that would give his wrath an excuse to come out. This Omega however did nothing but listen as he spun a web of past truths, soft blue eyes growing further traumatised by each retelling.

Marcus may have been kept as the prodigal son but his treatment was no less cruel than a prisoner’s. He was kept in a stone underground chamber for the first twelve years of his life, fed only raw meat and milk to enhance the growth of his dagger teeth. Hunting started at thirteen when he was taught to prey on weaker animals in the wilderness and at sixteen was drugged to make desired immortals look like stags to be hunted. Marcus knew only killing during the formative years of his life and learned to harbour his resentment in the form of a living beast kept chained inside him.

Anger festered from hatred and brutality was the result. By the time he turned twenty-eight, his current age, Marcus had become the definition of a monster. He’d had sixteen Omegas, all murdered in less than a month after being bonded, and each possessing a hope they could change him. The father of all this horror never saw Marcus because their grandfather looked after him – if such a term could be applied for his deplorable behaviour.

Lies are not so easily surpassed by an Omega. Louis thought it was a gift that they, creatures who could bear children to their race, were able to denote the truth from falsity. Nothing but heart-breaking honesty came from Marcus and Louis would bet his blood on it.

“I should hate you for killing those Omegas, for hunting those innocent people.” Louis was wiping at the dampness beneath his eyes and letting his wrists come back wet. He rubbed profusely at his cheeks and a clogged voice clouded over his usual sweet tone. “But you didn’t know, did you?”

Marcus is thrown by the embrace offered to him by the Omega. He waits for its early demise that does not come barrelling forth so he wraps his arms as securely around Louis as his Alpha wishes. The scent of his pregnant submissive soothes so many aches and burns that Marcus finds his eyes fluttering closed, inhaling deeply what Louis brought this much closer to him. Louis’ body is frail and petite where it curls up almost on the dominant’s lap, the faintest tremors rushing from his bloodstream when Marcus emits the same purr that brought calm to the Omega.

“Tell them, Marcus.” Louis murmurs against a firm shoulder. He felt his stray tears dampen Marcus’ shirt and the Alpha’s sorrow at his own memories also soak into his sweater. The purr is against his chest over the thunder of his heart and above the current home of his child, rendering unfathomable changes in Louis’ previous rattled symptoms. “Your brothers need to know and you deserve to tell them.”

“They cannot know.” Marcus almost barks, his lips curling into a snarl where they pressed to Louis’ clavicle. _To sob is to admit a weakness, and weakness has no place among our race_. Marcus releases an anguished cry where he hid in Louis’ embrace, fisting his hands to keep from shaking. He would not hurt this Omega. _Not this one._ “My brothers have their suspicions but they will not ask for a true answer. Perhaps our father’s plan will fail and I will be able to escape. If that happens this will be the only home I can return to so _I cannot have my brothers thinking I’m an abomination._ ”

“I told Edward I didn’t trust him yet. Ever since I said it I’ve been thinking real hard about whether it was the truth.” Louis randomly recites the first thought that creeps into his mind, anything to distract Marcus from letting go. He had his nose buried in the Alpha’s hair and his hands clutching Marcus’ biceps. “I know you’re not lying to me because after…after what happened with our old pack I’d like to think I can finally spot a liar.”

Marcus listened, nuzzling Louis’ neck and appreciating the warmth of a strong bond, while Louis said things that had little relevance to their present lives. He felt that familiar conduit of fury unfurl in his depths and was powerless to stop it like all the other times but something about the beast had changed. It was quick on the prowl before and tore into flesh with Marcus as a puppet without warning but it was merely stirring from a slumber this time. Like Louis’ voice and attention had caught hold of the beast’s mind as well without meaning to, singing to the serpent and the wolf.

“Do not tell them.” Marcus interrupts in a drunken, overly exerted manner. He held Louis’ sides so his fingers spanned out over the boy’s hip and edged on his bump but did not graze it. “Even after I’ve gone back you have to swear to never tell them. _I’m not a monster and they- I’m not their weapon. I’m not a monster!”_

“Shh. I know that. You’re not a monster and we know that.” Louis flinches when Marcus nips at his throat harmlessly. He waits for the Alpha to stop trembling so fiercely and gently brings his rocking to a halt. Louis presses his lips to Marcus’ temple with a brief smile that he forces the man to acknowledge. “You’ll always have family here, Marcus.”

The dominant’s forehead rests on Louis’ shoulder, his eyes wide and burning with the emergence of something feral within him. Something possesses him; something greedy grabs him by the throat and demands obedience. He sniffs the Omega holding him – the light citrus and overall comfort from a delicate creature – and the purr recommences on its own command. That inner beast which flung Marcus’ resistance into thorns and drowned his humanity stood tall on its pedestal now. It made him cringe outwardly but at the same time wonder why it had on a mask that’s never come to be before.

The half of Marcus that is wolf and Alpha was only this once complemented by his parasitic vampire traits. His teeth extended before he could stop it and the overwhelming desire welled profusely in his chest. Marcus saw Louis’ kindness as eternal and could deny himself for only so long. There was much longing to pierce Louis’ sinfully soft skin with his teeth and leave a mark that cannot be rubbed away. It became too tempting after staring at the ideal spot where he could lay his claim, and Marcus pushed Louis away with too much brunt force that the Omega squeals at being tossed onto his back.

Scrambling back into an upright position, Louis is flabbergasted by the abrupt alternation in Marcus’ mood. A tempest brewed in the ruins of civility when the beastly man pushed off the couch, his strength sending the entire contraption back two inches with Louis still on it. The Omega grips the sofa’s arm and unfolds his legs from underneath him.

“What’s wrong?” Louis looks so uncharacteristically burdened by concern and worry for the hybrid, his gorgeous blues darkening with it.

Marcus shakes his head, covering his mouth with his hand and stopping Louis from at all nearing him. He’s growling in strenuous, contemptuous endlessness that just about sets the entire room alight with his riveting tension. The windows shudder in their holsters and the door creaks as it shifts closer to the door; Marcus’ fingers rake through his oddly lush side parted hair. He is frustrated with himself for reasons Louis can’t decipher or ease his resulting discontent before Marcus is brutally punishing himself for his earlier discrepancy.

“Marcus, stop that!” Louis screeches when he sees the blood flowing from Marcus’ mouth, dripping down his chin to stain his shirt. Some crimson droplets are ambitious enough to reach the carpet at their feet and when the Omega rushes toward him, he’s little concerned with the dampness beneath his feet. “What did you _do_?”

Marcus had exceptional healing capabilities and he only saw it fit if his punishment was as severe as this one. He’d cracked several of his own razor teeth so his gums split and bled profusely onto his tongue; it was the reaction to his inner monstrous dominant and he would not allow that creature to dictate his actions around Louis. His instincts demanded that he claim the Omega who held him, comforted his troubles and made his what could be lost to another. Except, Louis is already bonded and happy _with his brother_ who Marcus must honour as his kin.

An Alpha’s desires is not used to being curbed and although it aches to force it back now, Marcus respects his brother’s sanctified mating more than he craves a solution to his loneliness. Louis is a wonderful Omega who offers kindness with genuine concern where others turned away in bold fear. It is no mystery that his recent escape from dire circumstances to find Edward and consequently Marcus, only made the boy more admirable.

“They’ll heal.” Marcus spat irately, and his voice is partially slurred because of the excessive fluid in his mouth coupled with the raw swelling of his gums from having molars shattered in its grip.

As Louis observed upon tearing Marcus’ palm away from his mouth, the Alpha is correct. His teeth made a recovery with remarkable speed and were identical to their fallen priors. “Why’d you do that to yourself, Marcus?”

“Doesn’t matter.” He stepped away from Louis after a brief glance to the door and scan of the room. Marcus’ eyes grew uncertain, dilated until it was all black and the stunning silver receded to slits around the circumference. “When you return to your senses now, my brothers will be in an uproar over you. I will be gone and remember to tell them nothing. Farewell, darling.”

*    *    *    *    *

**Seven Days Later.**

Something is wrong and they all know it but for varying degrees of secrecy are keeping it from one another. Louis has slept without Edward’s invasion of his dreams and somehow that felt more unsettling than when it used to take place on the regular. They have not gotten a chance to address the strange happening because Harry is always with Louis, his pregnant mate has developed some of the more violently ill pregnancy symptoms now that his body isn’t lost in the forest.

Louis falls asleep in the bathroom beside the toilet more often than not before Harry finds him and carries to the bed. His Omega can only keep warm water and flavourless chicken down or else anything with too prominent an aroma would send him into a nauseous downward spiral. Sleeping for most of the day and being awake only to shower daily with Harry’s aid has become Louis’ new routine.

What was so alarming that Edward became the bravest willing to point it out, is that these symptoms should not last more than a day or so when carrying an Alpha’s child. Betas who had the rare gift to fall pregnant underwent these pains but Omegas were magical creatures who almost never struggled during their pregnancy. Louis going through this is not normal and it has his mate on edge all the time.

Harry almost never slept because he was too afraid of missing out if his mate needed something but the dire consequences for his devoted behaviour turned out to be the deterioration of his senses. He could not smell further than the most pungent and Edward had to repeat himself thrice over for the Alpha to hear him, so something had to be done. Edward is genetically engineered to never need sleep so he finds a harmless serum that will put Harry under for enough hours to allow his body some recuperation. Unfortunately, an Alpha’s body burns through all medication within hours so the vampire concentrates and extends the dosage until Harry is sleeping for seven hours daily.

During those seven hours, Edward entertained himself by Louis’ bedside or in his study until he felt restless enough to check on his brother’s mate. Just once did the stars align for him and Louis awoke while Harry had four hours remaining in his slumber so Edward had the opportunity he’s been waiting for.

If there is anyone he desired to speak to most it’s Louis and with all the time he had to address why it is so, Edward discovered that the Omega presented a fresh mind. Louis had a mild manner of listening and speaking when he was absolutely certain it would be intelligible; conversations with him quickly became Edward’s favourite pass-time. Now that something is keeping him from Louis’ dreams, he feels more unrest and unshakeable unease in his bones than should be possible.

“What are you doing down there?” Louis’ voice has been stripped down to a husk of what it once was. He was turned on his side and found Edward sitting against the side of the bed, one knee bent in the air but the other flat out in front of him.

The other shifted to rest his head on the mattress, his ear much too close to Louis’ abdomen. He could hear the muffled thump of a pup’s heartbeat and it brought to the forefront a multitude of emotions. Edward felt Louis’ hand fall onto his shoulder and he ceased it in his own, feeling the Omega’s subsiding fever and slowing pulse. “There is much to think about.”

Louis cleared his throat and shifted to feel the arm resting on his middle from his Alpha behind him. He found Harry’s hand on his hip and pulled it around him more securely. “Is there?”

Edward hummed, lacing his fingers through Louis’ and locking them there. “Do you need anything?”

“No.” Louis felt his leaden eyelids slip shut but would not succumb to sleep again so soon. He flexed his fingers between Edwards and appreciated their cool touch on his skin. “You haven’t been in my sleep recently.”

“Miss me, my sweet wolf?” Edward muses, keeping his gaze on the stagnant curtains and floating dust specks around the room. His fangs were out and his eyes were empty with thirst. “Something is protecting you from me.”

“Why?”

Edward tilts his head back against the sheets, his elongated canines glistening in what minimal light reaches this room. He hates himself for forgetting to feed and only adding to the agony of sitting here beside a sweet pulse without the right to drink from it. “Letting someone else into your mind can give them the ability to dictate who else may see what they can. Who did you let in, Louis?”

Louis stops himself before he can lie. _Remember, tell them nothing._ “We need to talk in person then.”

Edward doesn’t say anything for a minute while his thumb brushes back and forth over Louis’ wrist. “I haven’t been able to tell Harry yet but perhaps telling you first is wiser.”

“Oh?”

“A messenger arrived yesterday at my casino downstairs with a letter of invitation to attend the ball being held in Marcus’ new mate’s honour.” Edward was privy to the elevation in Louis’ heartbeat and held on tighter when the Omega tried to retract his hand. He uselessly pressed his lips to where blood gushed in Louis’ veins, causing the vessels to throb in tune to his panic. “They know where we are and they most likely always did.”

Hearing Marcus’ name brought knots to Louis’ abdomen and dread in copious amounts. He missed the devastating man enough to feel spite for this new mate who would have the same fate as all the rest, and would bond an Alpha that they could not learn to love. Louis had a heavy heart at the prospect but more than that fear welled where the final voids were. Those who sought to drive them out have found them and waited until the moment it would be most arrogant to deliver this invitation.

Thinking the pack they left behind were ignorant of their whereabouts was nothing but self-inflicted trickery. Foolish hope. The Styles pack is greater now, more powerful and they still had their eye on the family they had forsaken.

“We have to leave.” Louis croaks, trying to sit up as no calm is in the foreseeable future. He clutches his shirt over his abdomen and props his weight up on an elbow.

“We can’t.” Edward ran his tongue over his fangs, feeling that sensuous burn down his dry throat and feeling drunk off it. “My brother came to me with you and a promise of loyal wolves who went South to a pack they could trust. Since then, that pack has signed a treaty with Alfred Styles. Harry’s wolves can no longer be there which means they are to be expected here soon.”

 


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O.o

Louis has been getting better and it’s no surprise that his Alpha suspects him of lying. Whatever dragged him down into the anguish of sickness released its talons on him so Louis may recover as quickly as he needed. Each day of three days the Omega did nothing but worry and feel helpless as he could do nothing to better their circumstances. Harry was no better when he stayed in the bedroom to keep Louis company or when he met with Edward to hear further morbid news.

No word came from Liam and the wolves Harry sent to the Southern packs which troubled the trio awaiting them restlessly. Edward and Harry had a falling out when the Alpha found out about the sleeping drug; they all but destroyed the vampire’s office when their pent up rage got let out. Harry’s jaw was dislocated and his arm was yanked with such agility that the force tore right through muscle. His wolf avenged those injuries by ripping into Edward’s side and cracking his ribcage with his muzzle. Louis wanted to say something to break them apart but he saw what lay in their eyes and stopped himself; they each had primitive instincts to cater to and if non-fatal bloodshed would give them peace then Louis would not interrupt.

The study was not to be recovered after the tragedy so Louis took the most vital documents with him into the bedroom chamber, sitting with them by the fireplace and a makeshift bed for study. Letters from Alfred were succinct and provided no clue as to his thoughts if they wavered at all. Those returning letters from the brothers’ father were almost entirely heartless and Louis has to blink away tears at remembering their faux kindness to him, but even more so the horrible treatment of his own son.

Louis turned over the envelopes and parchment in frustration, muttering to his pup about angered nonsense. It all stopped when the corner of Alfred’s letter tore and a second sheet pasted to the back was revealed. Louis brought it closer to his only light source and felt his eyes widen in the thrill of discovery. Rushing to find the perfect tool, Louis can only use an ice pick from the tray in the corner of the room for this purpose. He sets the letter down and carefully drags the pointed tip along the edges coming to a halt at the spot where he started.

In one fluid motion the paper separated and exposed for him a new sheet, laden with untidy scrawl that eventually gave up on being uniform at all. Louis did not recognise the language it was displaying so he set it aside to inspect the rest, but only one other letter had the same hidden page stuck to the back. It was also in an indecipherable language that annoyed Louis enough to make him groan.

Unlike the formal letters that were at the forefront, these pages were aged and of poor condition. Their weight was negligible and made their existence on their hosts nearly impossible to detect. Louis ran his fingers over the script it held, feeling where this pen dug into frail paper or scratching turned into circular scribbles. This person was in a hurry and was nonetheless desperate to get their word out. At the usual signature at the foot of the page, Louis saw the initial _‘M’_ but at the top it was addressed to _Ma._

Louis had an immediate hunch about who the writer is, as he can only match one face to a script like this, and he’s heard Harry call someone – his mother – Ma before. His heart sank when he thought of Marcus writing to his mother in his horrific circumstances when Alfred kept him as a caged fiend.

“Harry!” The Omega ran from the room and down the hallway, knowing the path well by now, so he bursts into the ruined study with drastic momentum.

Someone stops him from tripping over splintered wood and they do not carry the scent of his Alpha. Instinctively, Louis squirms out of their hold to step away in a momentary lapse of purpose. Edward’s face carries the flicker of fire beneath the authentic mantle and he’s smirking secretively before turning away. There’s no denying the absent waxiness of his skin or the deathly blue of his lips because a fed vampire is one at their peak. Louis opens his mouth to tell Edward something entirely unrelated to why he’s here but Harry comes up behind him, hands settling on Louis’ hips.

“What’s wrong, little one?” The Alpha is shirtless and still recovering by the sight of his bruised shoulder turning yellow. He has blood on his lips from the near shattering of his jaw but this poor lighting could be just putting Harry’s obscenely red lips on emphasis.

“Nothing. I found something, look.” Louis holds up the set of papers he discovered and suddenly Edward is right beside him again, a cool wind settling afterward. His eyes are fixated on Louis’ newest possessions.

The vampire and wolf have been intrigued; they each take a letter from Louis to read but Edward is the first to complain. “I do not understand this language.”

“I do.” Harry’s voice is strangled, the final syllable of his statement sounding broken. His eyes are scanning each word on the document and every single one seems to fuel the bitterness hardening the Alpha’s gaze.

Louis feels Harry’s hand settle on his lower back, and acquiesces when his mate draws him closer to his side. He has to know if his prediction was at all accurate. “Who wrote it?”

Harry waits to take the second letter from Edward to answer. “Our brother did.”

“Who is _Ma_?” Edward frowns at the heading, oblivious to the crack in Louis’ heart and the stare of Harry across an inch or two of difference.

It should come as no surprise that Edward would not immediately deduce _Ma_ to be their mother, the woman he never met or learnt a thing about except as an outsider. Louis lets his Alpha answer for fear of his words sounding as throttled as his emotions.

“Mother. It’s our mother.” Harry looks back at the sheet in his hands when Edward raises his head. “How did you find these, little one?”

Louis pries his gaze away from Edward’s unreadable expression – the vampire had winked when he found Louis looking his way. “It was stuck to the back of the letters Edward had.”

“We replicated those letters and sent those instead in their place.” Edward says. “They could have discovered we were intercepting their messages because the ones they got didn’t have what was hidden in the originals.”

“No. It doesn’t look like these letters were supposed to be found by someone who didn’t know where to look.” Harry shook his head, dropping his hand to his side with the letters clutched in his fists. He surprised Louis with a delicate squeeze of the Omega’s shoulders and a kiss to his forehead. “Well done, little one. You saw what we couldn’t.”

If Louis is grateful for any of his ingrained Omega traits, it’s his appreciation of compliments that made his inner submissive preen with accomplishment without deriving a driven need to be continually praise. An Alpha’s kindness to their mate is one of the greatest gifts that can be received.

They discuss the content of the letters after retiring to the bedroom where Louis’ fort of investigation is still harboured. The Omega sits on the bed with his legs crossed and Harry at his back explaining the foreign words to them. His Alpha kept Louis in the circle of his embrace with the letters laid on Louis’ lap for him to read as a guideline.

“He’s apologising often throughout the entire letter.” Harry says, setting his chin on Louis’ shoulder. “Whatever Marcus has done or blames himself for, he feels as though it’s caused our mother to abandon him.”

Sick humour flashes across Edward’s features. “An unimaginable repercussion.”

Harry snarls viciously at his callous sibling. “Watch your tongue when you speak of our mother, Edward.”

“Feel free to do so yourself, brother, but I have no obligation to the woman who had forsaken me.” Edward’s scars had become much less disheartening as he surpassed the boundary of acquaintance but in this moment the burn wounds were still hurting for everyone in the room, announcing themselves from their place across nearly half the vampire’s face where they bled years ago.

“She did it for your survival!” Harry pulled back from Louis, should his anger cause an act he cannot risk near his mate or baby.

“No, brother.” Edward smiled and it held no joy, just resentment. “She did it for _your_ survival. Would you, should your pup be of another race, leave them behind for any reason? I know you wouldn’t and you aren’t even the one carrying the baby.”

Before Harry can respond, Louis puts his hand on the Alpha’s arm and squeezes. A thousand messages carry through Louis’ single gentle act and the pulse that travels through their bond from the submissive counterpart. Edward is as entitled to his anger as Harry is to his defence; neither of them are wrong and so too should neither be harassed into a change of opinion. This is about the absent brother who suffered altogether more than Edward or Harry did in his fewer years, and allowing themselves to become distracted is an act of injustice.

“Read the letters please, Harry.” Louis requested, not lifting his hand from the Alpha’s bony wrist. “As much of it that can be translated.”

It takes a painstakingly slow second for Harry to oblige but when he does, even Edward has leaned forward in his seat with a lip pinched between his thumb and forefinger. The words are plain but the message is vast and the repetitive apologies only grow in earnest; Marcus felt guilty for a crime that is not mentioned but his child-like pleas for forgiveness are gut-wrenching. At one point or another they’d all had once thought it was an act or drama with such finesse that Marcus deserved applause for the attention he craved, but such consistency in his hopelessness can only be genuine.

They’ve broken a man, thinking he was a beast.

“This is new information.” Edward sighs, falling back gracefully in his chair. “Not even the chosen brother received any affection.”

Harry stared blankly at the sheets, nodding tersely because he agreed. “There is no one to replace him. We cannot help him.”

Louis winced at the harsh words in his ear that he knew were true but hoped to never hear. Edward had noticed and when Louis looks up from his lap, feels heat rise to his cheeks from being found out.

“He could kill himself. What would they do then?” Edward kept his eyes on Louis even if the Omega averted his focus. Reactions from Louis at the mention of Marcus’ torture have caught his eye.

“They will not let that happen if there is no back-up plan.” Harry responds curtly. His ears prick at the sound of something afar but near enough to be _familiar_ ; the Alpha rises from the bed and goes to the window.

“What is it?” Louis asks because Edward isn’t bothered to.

Harry looks to have been both puzzled and affronted by whatever is happening below them on the street; his frown deepening as he observes the external activity. Louis can wait no longer for his frozen Alpha and climbs off the mattress to inspect the sight himself. He brushes past Edward on his way there and the vampire finds himself following Louis to the window, standing at the Omega’s back because their height difference posed no obstruction.

Six identical cars, jet black and heavy duty, were parked along the pavement in this cool night and reflect the moonlight above them. For this to be a casino and have patrons who drive in chilling coordination, nobody should be surprised, but for vehicles in this excellent condition and originally of flawless make, it raises many questions. Harry yanks the curtains back further so he doesn’t have to hold the heavy drapery, transfixed by those getting out of the menacing cars.

Louis recognises one of them instantly and a wave of relief washes over him. “Liam.”

“Aye.” Harry is pleased as well until more than his familiar five faces emerge from the vehicles, all wolves. “Don’t let them come up here, Edward.”

“I will speak with them.” The vampire replies before swiftly disappearing from their company and less than a minute later reappearing through the casino ground level entrance.

Harry’s hearing is expertly honed for long distance use and the cracking of a single window allows him to become aware of their conversation. Louis hates his inferior senses in that moment but chooses to watch the interaction between Edward and Liam to compensate. He wants to bat his mate’s paws away from his waist when Harry tugs him into the enclosure his arms offer, the Alpha’s chin resting on his head.

From what can be seen, nothing akin to even a mild disagreement breaks out and Harry listens for sort of sign from his brother that they pose a threat. None come for the next ten minutes. Edward speaks with his charming accent and displays his fangs like his proudest feature when all who knew him were aware the vampire treasured scars over skill. Liam was the same measured, calm Alpha that made him Harry’s second-in-command many years ago. He has changed and so did the others at his side, all for the better. They held no hostility and uncertainty in their faces like the mild battle of their old pack rendered in them.

“They want to see us.” Harry breathes, squeezing Louis’ hip. The Omega wants to roll his eyes when he realises his mate is speaking this low but his words are meant for his brother down below. “This is your house, it’s your choice.”

For a few more silent seconds they don’t move outside, until the entire party re-enters the building. Louis blows out a nervous breath and wishes he had shoes on to meet wolves he hasn’t seen in weeks but knew him well before. He thinks about the new wolves with them and pokes Harry’s arm. “What did they speak about?”

His Alpha chuckles for the first time in a long time and picks Louis up in an unnecessary cradle. “Liam won’t reveal to Edward what he has to tell you and me.”

“So why were they outside for so long?” Louis crawls back onto the bed and sits in the centre of it, his legs crossed under him.

Harry has the option to sit with his mate or stand but seeing as he considers nearly all besides Edward to be a possibly enemy, he remains standing. His head of curls could be said to have lost most of their life and Louis pities the loss, even now when he kneels on the bed to twirl one around his finger. “Edward is very thorough and questionably expert at discerning who is reliable.”

At that, Edward himself saunters back into the room leading just two of the wolves that arrived tonight and Liam is one of them. Harry greets the other wolf with a hug that predictably lasts a second longer than a mere courtesy, which gives Edward time to sit beside Louis. The Omega glances at his new companion out the corner of his eye at the same time that Edward does the same, ending in an awkward moment when they return to the reunion before them.

The female wolf with Liam is also one Harry knows and receives an equally enthusiastic greeting from Louis’ mate. She is Alpha as well and Louis remembers how tough it was for her to find acceptance in a pack where all Alphas were males. Harry takes them to Louis despite the Omega only growing more nervous by him doing so – he was never formally made the pack leader’s mate and did not know how to greet pack members under these circumstances. As a result, Louis greeted them as he does friends.

Louis embraces them both and giggles when the female, Livia, lifts him almost off the bed. Liam is of course more reserved until Louis tightens his arms around the wolf and prompts a suitable response. The Alpha laughs and returns the enthusiasm, but releases Louis in time to have the Omega resume his seat next to Edward. Being around pack fills everyone with pride and security that Harry did not realise was so crucial and now came rushing back to him in the most satisfying way.

The door is locked and Harry leans against a bedpost at the foot of the mattress, his arms crossed. Next to Louis, Edward is diligent and not half as pleased at having these strangers in his home but after he feels a delicate squeeze to his shoulder he feels somewhat at ease. Louis’ reassuring smile to him is not under-appreciated.

“How far have you travelled?” Harry asks them first, finding that Liam and Livia chose to stand as well.

Liam answers. “All the way from the South.”

“How come?” Louis questions, his head tilted minutely to the side.

“The pack we went to, the _Messeia_ wolves _,_ signed a deal with the Styles’ pack that entitled them to adequate safety if they also contributed wolves to undisclosed causes.”

“Undisclosed causes that have been killing hundreds of our wolves.” Livia finishes for her companion, a deep sadness emanating from her. Louis knows instantly that she lost someone close to these conditions.

“What?” Harry is growing edgy, unnerved.

Liam sighs in the only way a conflicted mind can. “Alpha, I cannot describe it because I have never been through it and those that have do not return to us. They have merged three packs, all of whom are unopposed to welcoming a single leader that they say has been designed to fulfil that duty.”

Louis feels Edward tense against his arm and can’t help but bow his own head to hide what turmoil wells in his chest. They mean Marcus and everyone is already aware of their new leader without being at all knowledgeable of who the man is.

“The three joined packs have not lost any wolves.” Livia continues, disgust seeping into her words and curling her lip. “They’ve intimidated smaller packs into signing the treaty or have their wolves at risk of an invasion.”

This deeply upsets Louis and he has to ask. “And everyone just surrendered to them?”

The look that overtakes Liam and Livia’s expression is indicative of their pain and revulsion. “One pack did reject their proposal initially. The night following their answer, their territory was breached by something they could not fight. They said that with the fighters who invaded their home came a more ghastly beast, one of nightmares. If Alphas and Betas were strong enough they were taken. Omegas are being made into breeders, and that has been outlawed for centuries.”

Louis brought his knees to his chest, revolted by this truth and afraid of it all at the same time. It made him tremble to imagine Omegas held against their will in locations where they could not be helped and forced to fall pregnant by thoughtless dominants that did not deserve their abilities. Everyone in the room noticed the change in Louis but none were entitled to act except the submissive’s mate. It was allowed for Edward to sit beside Louis because Harry trusts his brother as the only other one besides himself to protect his lover. It now surprises Liam and Livia that their once intended pack leader is at peace with allowing one of another race comfort Louis in this instance – their reassurance being that brothers have many exceptions for each other.

“I want to do something about this.” Harry speaks through gritted teeth and nearly black orbs for eyes. “It would make any sensible elder sick to see what is being done to our wolves and there is nothing I want to help change more. However, to act without resources or intelligence is suicide.”

Liam jumps to intervene this, something coming alive in his features. “The wolves here today have come from fallen packs to ask for your aid, Alpha. It has also been revealed that the reason behind the old pack’s hatred for you and Louis had nothing to do with moving territories.”

“What is the real reason then?” Louis asks from where his cheek rests on Edward’s shoulder, his voice a sweet tranquillity above their chaos. He has had too many shocks to still house enough energy for equal reactions for all.

Respectfully, Livia lightly bows her head before answering. “The elders were told Alpha Harry would move them across the ocean and shortly after the bloody overtake, they were all slaughtered. The entire pack was told you were not the rightful Alpha but were planning to occupy the pedestal anyway. They fought to overthrow you with the wrong information and have lived to suffer for it.”

This ceased Harry’s attention like a clawed hand around his throat. Each prick of his skin to draw blood was a realisation dawning from history to present. He is not juvenile and cannot entirely forego the duties still on his shoulders if his pack is depending on him even now. Louis raises his head from Edward’s shoulder and lowers his legs to the bed once more, stricken with sympathy and hints of remorse.

“Word has not stopped coming to us for a month now.” Liam addressed the plea to both Alpha and Omega. “They know the new leader is also a Styles but it cannot be truly your brother.”

“It is true.” Harry makes Louis proud by not scoffing at the fact or withering in shame. “What is the name of the new leader they have announced to you?”

“No one knows his name besides the initial M.” Livia answers, locking her hands together at her back and trying not to sneer in hatred. “Many of us have given up the notion that he has a name other than _Monstrum_.”

Louis narrowly avoids a gasp and rushes for a distraction from his own tragic wayward thoughts. He and the present Styles brothers know the ancient term for a gruesome torturer is not appropriate for a man like Marcus, but the fact must remain a secret. Louis swallows his true feelings and feels a knot in his belly, laying a hand over the skin where his pup sleeps to soothe them both. Edward had his weight propped up on the arm closest to Louis and has to prevent himself falling over when the Omega grabs his hand for an occupation.

“To fight this is to ask for war.” Harry says ominously, his statement bouncing off the walls and landing on everyone’s conscience. “Take rest at the motel nearby. We will meet in the morning for my decision.”


	6. VI

Harry walked out with Liam and Livia to meet the other wolves; Louis went with him as far as being introduced to nearly nine new faces and listening to them express their immense gratitude for not being turned away. The Omega keeps Harry grounded by being present and clutching his mate’s arm to constantly remind the Alpha that a decision is yet to be made. New variables have shifted into their lives – the most important one being their unborn pup – and neither of them can be carried away by the hope of a revolution.

When Louis kindly refuses to go out to the cars with them, Harry kisses him and promises to return in a few minutes. Cheeks puffed out childishly and his body feeling grimy from its need of a shower, Louis retires to the bedroom that is now basically his. Edward hasn’t moved from the bed except to lie on his back with his arms folded under his head and his eyes closed peacefully.

Awkward is not a word among them anymore when no guests were present and Louis feels no discomfort at it being just the two of them. “I thought vampires don’t need to sleep.”

“We do not.” The only feature that moved were Edward’s lips but the rest of him remained marble stone, still an unfairly beautiful specimen. “It’s a luxury nonetheless and we can savour it all the same.”

Louis hums in response and hauls his weight back onto the bed, shuffling closer to Edward’s sides before crossing his legs. “Can I ask you something?”

Edward removes one hand from being sandwiched between the pillow and his head, holding it palm up expectantly for Louis to accept. The Omega threads his fingers through Edward’s and lets the union fall onto his lap, looking at Edward’s sealed eyelids.

“You are a mother, sweet wolf. Would you be at peace knowing your babies are going to enter this world of unrest and greed?” Edward asks with hint of actual concern that enters his customary gritty tone.

“No.” Louis takes a breath, mindlessly inspecting one of the many rings on Edward’s hand. “I’m not afraid of the worst case scenario if it were just me at risk but, Edward, it’s _not_ just me.”

Edward cracks his eyes open before sitting up to take both Louis’ hands in his, the burning intensity of his gaze no longer sparking an urge in the Omega to glance away. “No one can see the future, sweet wolf. We are not meant to protect the ones we love from what is our ultimate fate, but the entire journey there is up to us. Louis, my brother is going to bring this world to its knees before he lets anything threaten you or your pup.”

Louis folds in those moments and he has to look away because the blackened abyss staring back at him is too intense coming coupled from the man who is not his mate. It doesn’t bother him because Edward is Harry’s brother and in the past few months they’ve had no other company besides the three of them. He lays his head on Edward’s shoulder and shivers at the ice cold hand that wraps around his neck harmlessly.

These changing times have taken so many lives and will continue to do so if something isn’t done to stop the actual awful immortals behind the devastation. The fight has to be brought to them by those they made sure to cripple in capability and emotion; from without their inner circle that meant them. Louis could close his eyes and experience the anxiety of impending trauma.

Staring at the silk threads of the sheets beneath them, Louis unknowingly lets his fingernails rake down the length of Edward’s bicep. “You’ll come with us, right? If we have to leave in the morning.”

The question pulls a guttural sound from the vampire like a thorn from cotton, and he hides his face against Louis’ warm jugular. “Ask me to follow you and I’ll do so to the ends of the earth.”

When Harry returns it’s been eight minutes after he left his brother and mate; the sight that greets him is both those people in his life lying on the bed in an uncanny fit of giggles. Louis and Edward are on their backs side-by-side staring at the bland ceiling, succumbing to laughter that the Alpha does not expect to be pertinent. He comes to them, brimming with bemused curiosity, and raises his eyebrow at the pair who acknowledges his entrance with soft merriness.

“I would like to join you in this alternate dimension.” Harry muses, pushing off the bedpost and goes to lie on Louis’ other side.

His Omega grabs Harry’s hand just as he has Edward’s hand in another grip. The mood sobers in the room as anticipated. “What are we going to do, Harry?”

Harry turns his head on the pillow to gently nuzzle Louis’ side affectionately. “It feels like I have no choice.”

“You do have a choice, brother.” Edward contributes in his usual soft satin voice that is a whisper of Harry’s Alpha timbre. “You’ve already made it.”

“How can I leave any wolf who doesn’t deserve such horror to suffer?” Harry sighs wearily and plants his free palm over Louis’ belly as an unspoken salute to the life they created. “You’re almost four months, little one.”

“Almost.” Louis gladly echoes, closing his eyes for a brief minute. “This has to be done, Harry, and it has to be you two who see it through.”

There’s no denying from either immortal on Louis’ sides and he thanks a deity for their absent argument. Behind his lids and in the darkness that came with sealing them, Marcus’ visage floated in Louis’ mind. It has to be all three of them, no other.

“Edward?” Harry calls.

The vampire emits a soft chuckle, one of those predatorial sounds like his defensive hiss and Harry’s aggressive snarl. It crawled over one’s skin and seeped into one’s bones where their domineering prowess sank its claws. “I have _much_ to discuss with our darling parents.”

*    *    *    *    *

A plan of action cannot be plotted out when the parameters of their circumstances are not outlined for both Styles brothers to acknowledge. Harry sends word to Liam that they will leave in the middle of the day to allow Edward the minimum amount of time he needs to get his assets in order. There is no successor for his vast possessions that has to be left behind so he signs them off to the manager of his casino. Money is taken from the intimidating vault in the basement and put in one of the guarded SUV’s.

Louis understands that they will be travelling non-stop through the woods beyond this mediocre civilisation until they reach the _Messeia_ wolf pack in the South. They are one of the less advanced packs but one of high respect because of their closeness as a family and single bonded unit. He shudders to think that such unity is being driven apart into shreds for whatever purpose the self-entitled leaders are dictating. It remains a mystery that Harry has not picked a fight with Louis about the Omega wanting to be involved in this cause. Louis suspects that storm is still pending but he knows that only the most dire excuses will prevent him from partaking in the same act as his mate.

To pack is to throw all their belongings into as many bags as needed and work against the time they’re wasting with trivial pursuits. Edward’s closet is of massive area and Louis finds it ridiculous for a single person to need as much clothing. Rather than allowing the vampire the luxury of assessing his choices, Louis packs four suitcases for him while Edward broods over the lot. It’s a marvellous skill that this Omega possesses, to toss the most appropriate and least flashy articles into bags without doing a single double-take.

Liam and Livia come up to help with the bags when the sun is near its peak, carrying everything out to the cars with Harry and no strain. Edward was not aware their belongings had been taken away as he packed what was needed from his study, only to be interrupted after an hour by Louis strolling into his office dressed to depart.

“Hey.” The sweet Omega smiles with indecipherable warmth radiating from his presence. “Ready to go?”

Edward grunts distractedly from his task of emptying his drawers, not noticing the trembling of his hands until Louis takes them in his own. He looks up with initially visible annoyance but Louis’ light blue eyes staring back at him silences that reaction.

“I know you’re not scared.” Louis searches for an answer in Edward’s eyes. What dawns on him from the defensive black of Edward’s burning gaze is enough to make the boy’s breath hitch. “You don’t want to see them again, do you? Your parents.”

“No, I do not.” Edward rasps, freeing his hands and looking away to close the case holding all the research he’s ever done. He makes an aggravated sound when Louis’ actions force him to stop once more, but a tight embrace is not what he prepares for.

Louis locks his arms around Edward’s waist and squeezes with menial strength that cannot feel like more than a tickle to such an immortal. At first there is no response from the vampire but Louis does not let go – physical comfort and reassurance is in an Omega’s blood to provide – until there is one. Edward steps around the table’s edge and cradles the back of Louis’ skull with his palm, taking advantage of this notion because there is always a chance they won’t be granted another bout of kind affection.

“I’m not afraid of them or what they intend for any opposition. One is abandoned and merely hopes they never have to reunite with those who did it to them.” Edward closes his eyes when he bows his head to relish in the unmistakeably pleasant scent from such a gentle creature.

“Maybe it will be a good thing.” Louis suggests with a small shrug. “If anything, they should see the man you’ve become.”

*    *    *    *    *

Unlike the trip coming to Haven where the travelling party was fanned out between six vehicles, on the returning journey there were five people in one SUV. Louis sat between Edward and Harry – who both wanted to be against the doors _just in case_ – while Liam and Livia sat across from them on an equal high-risen leather seat. The discussion commences as soon as the windows are tinted pitch black and they leave through the city gates, and Louis listens intently to everything they converse on with his head resting on Harry’s shoulder. He did it because after half an hour on travelling on the pothole-laden freeway his head felt heavy and Harry took pity on him; the Alpha gave Louis’ forehead a kiss and surrendered his hand to the Omega’s belly where he could lightly scrape his fingernails over the slight bump.

“You were invited to the ball?” Liam sounds as scandalised as the recipients of the gold-bordered envelope were. Harry nodded tersely and it seemed to spark a dozen new ideas in Livia and Liam. “That’s excellent, Alpha. We can use it to learn more about M.”

Livia reaches back to tie her hair into a thick blonde braid. “The ball is supposed to also welcome some visiting packs from across the ocean.”

“Visiting packs? How many allies do these bastards need?” Harry mutters in poorly suppressed anger.

“Actually, the visiting packs are neutral.” Liam deadpans. “Your father hopes to win their favour by introducing them to M and his new mate.”

Louis releases an audible sound of frustration. “What could possibly be so impressive about trapping and torturing wolves for whatever their sick intent is?”

Nobody sees Edward’s impressed smirk hidden by his curled fist. “If I’m allowed to veto the decision, I reckon Louis should be the one to ask them that.”

“Keep your humour for when this is over, brother.” Harry says to his twin before turning back to Liam. “Attending the ball could be a viable tactic.”

“I agree.” Liam nods. “They’re not going to try anything that could risk their deal with the overseas packs. If this new leader is your brother, getting him to listen to us can go a long way.”

“I’ll do it.” Louis volunteers, and it silences everyone in the van. Harry and Edward’s stares are burning into him but Louis wants this to be his duty.

Livia breaks the tension. “Will he listen?”

Louis does not hesitate and surprises his mate with being undoubtable. “All of you are Alphas and he’s not going to listen to someone who is _remotely_ a threat to him.”

“He’s much too dangerous.” Liam is shaking his head. “Nobody’s even seen him yet besides those who gave him his power.”

“Maybe but he’s going to in a huge ballroom surrounded by people he’s trying to influence later in negotiations. Between that and all of you who will definitely be there, he won’t try anything.”

“There are other Omegas.” Livia supplies, albeit weakly.

“None of them were invited.” Louis pictures himself then with a cherry pink lollipop but a pair of horns hidden in his hair. He will not allow the threat of _what if_ to take a chance to see Marcus again away from him, even if they must pretend to be strangers. “We are trying to get him on our side willingly and hostility is not going to accomplish that. Let me do this.”

“Alpha?” Liam looks to Harry for the final say, but the latter sees in Louis’ eyes what he knew was unbeatable.

“He can do it.” Harry nods in consent, kissing the back of his mate’s hand twice. He withheld the third for when they all return from the ball with something hopefully accomplished.

*    *    *    *    *

The _Messeia_ wolf pack is the core definition of endearing and humble even if their consequences have hurled them into a situation that they are entirely unworthy of. They’re waiting to greet the guests as the SUV’s roll into the territory then the main gathering of little cottages. Those roofs expand outward in a circular pattern from the scorched skeleton of last night’s community bonfire.

After a four hour drive Louis is restless and desperate to get out of the cramped vehicle; these woods are where he belongs and his wolf is ready to reunite with its most primal environment. The ground is dusty and scattered with sharp pebbles, Louis can hear the faint trickle of a water stream nearby and the trees are not allowing this civilisation any dignity. They creep up between the homes and evident packhouse, blocking most of the sun except for a spot directly above the tall fire.

Louis missed this atmosphere and it shows in how glad he is to be back amidst it all. He wants to remove his shoes and toss them aside so he can run through the trees while his wolf comes to the surface. Harry is watching him from the task of unloading their bags with a small smile curling his lip. The Alpha leader of the pack comes to greet them and he has to pull Louis out of his reverie reluctantly to conduct the formalities.

Edward jumps off and tugs on a lined satin blazer before standing behind Louis. The pack leader is a mountainous Alpha who wore no shirt and had a sunken belly below his scarred chest. He looked unapproachable and the last person Louis might want as a close friend because the cut above his eye made him appear always angry. After a small bow of his head the Alpha introduced himself as Samuel and the female who raced down the packhouse steps in a white cotton sundress is his mate, Jo.

“Bring them inside.” Jo says to her mate, brushing his arm on her way back indoors. It was growing dark but Louis had the feeling that night-time was their fear for an entirely different reason. “They’ve had a long journey.”

The packhouse is warm and aged; creaks in the wooden floorboards were evidence of that. Rather than entering a foyer, Louis walked directly into what was the pack’s gathering area. There were scattered couches and beanbags with rustic wall-to-wall rugs. This is home to for this pack and Louis never wanted them to lose any of it.

Harry took Louis’ hand when they entered the packhouse and he muttered a word of thanks to Samuel for being honoured with such pardon. It’s a forgotten custom that did not deserve to die. Behind them were Liam and Livia because the other wolves retired to their friends or family outside still. Edward was uncomfortable but he is a master of disguising it so when Louis reaches back to capture the vampire’s hand, neither of them are surprised.

Samuel takes them into the kitchen where Jo is awaiting them. There’s a kitchen island with five barstools but the sofas lined against the far wall somehow looked more inviting. She encouraged them to sit while Samuel came to her side, pretending to fetch a water bottle from the fridge. With everyone arranged around the room, Samuel speaks up.

“Liam seemed sure you would come.” The Alpha remarks, capping his water bottle and setting it down to lean forward against the counter. His disconcerting brown eyes seemed to watch everyone simultaneously. “I would not have returned under your circumstances, Alpha Harry. I must say that.”

Harry chose not to sit once more so he had his shoulder propped against a pillar, his brow furrowed and arms crossed. Beside him was Louis where the Omega sat miraculously cross-legged on a stool and Edward next to him thereafter, stiff and attentive. “There was much doubt, Alpha, very much. But some things are greater than us.”

“Aye.” Samuel nods. He’s watching his mate like a hawk when the latter offers their guests water, even Edward who is mildly startled but kindly refuses. “This pack has lost thirty-seven wolves, all fighters in two weeks, when recruiters came for an inspection they would not elaborate on.”

Louis grimaces at the number. “Who are the recruiters?”

“None are familiar faces to any of us I’m afraid. Forgive me but I don’t know what to address you as. Here, a leader’s mate is _Sa’bella_.” Samuel looks flustered by his internal struggle.

“We are not leaders here.” The Omega graciously replies. He does not want recognition for a status he never occupied.

Jo intervenes from where she’s perched on the counter. “Address him as like you do his mate, love.”

With that settled, they discuss the fineries of their plan to move forward. The formidable recruiters are not expected for two more weeks and much can be done in that time to stop them from coming back entirely.

“Who will come with you for this ball?” Samuel asks, willing to volunteer his wolves if needed. He heard that Louis will be the spine behind the operation and was determined to see it through smoothly.

“No more than who was invited.” Harry answers.

Liam continues with an elaboration. “It is unlikely that they will attempt to sabotage their own efforts at sealing an overseas deal, so now when they’re just settling in is the time to act.”

“What if they do?” Samuel presses. An Omega has never before been in the mix of such a dangerous ordeal and he’d hate for something preventable to come true under their watch.

“My brother will be with Louis.” Harry says, as cursedly stoic as he did the first time. “If they decide to act then speed is what will get my mate to safety first.”

Louis looked at his lap. He hated to think his escape would be priority when others remain behind if everything falls apart, but the Omega knows better than to fight too soon. Doing so could snatch from him the only chance he has of seeing Marcus in person again.

“You will need clothes for tomorrow night then. Hopefully, we can have enough outfits ready by then.” Jo announces in a quip, flattening her dress when she gets to her feet. Every Alpha who was seated stands – another dying act of chivalry towards Omegas – until she walks out.

Harry is watching Louis when his mate glances at him, reacting to his mate’s eye-roll by observing one of the oldest acts. He brings his hand up, palm shaped in the slightest concave, to his face; the tips of his fingers graze his forehead and the heel of his hand does so to his chin. It could be likened to the deed of feeding one’s self water from an open source, and perhaps its origin is so, but it has evolved into something much more meaningful. Louis recognises it to be a form of greeting used long, long before between the strongest allies.

When they all begin to depart from the room, Harry comes to help his fully capable mate off the stool for no reason other than to whisper in his ear. “I stand only for you, little one.”

*    *    *    *    *

They were designated bedrooms in the packhouse’s upper level but besides going there to freshen up and dump their bags, both Styles brothers and Louis spend no time in those rooms. Samuel waits for them at the door so they’re accompanied on a short trek to the assigned tailor’s cottage. Edward walked beside Louis the whole way there, offering his opinion on being in the middle of the wilderness.

“At least you don’t have to worry about mosquito bites.” Louis giggles, looping his arm through Edward’s so he can retain his balance in this harsh blackness cloaking them.

The pack wolves are surrounding the bonfire and all turning towards the travelling company at one point to study the new faces. Louis can’t block himself from them so he chooses to not concentrate on their stares. Harry is walking ahead with Samuel, constantly glancing back at his mate and brother for different reasons each time.

“Have you ever been to the woods before?” Louis hops over a cluster of stones complemented by a mouldy log, waiting for Edward to swiftly sidestep the disruption.

The vampire gives a light-hearted glower that illuminates his pulsing orbs with a twinkle of mockery. “Once and it was not by choice.”

“It can be amazing out here if you give it a chance.” Louis sees the cottage coming up that’s brightly lit with a soft orange hue from within. The front door is open and there are voices peeling out into the night from the excitement inside. “You know, I think I want you to dress me for the ball.”

Edward blinks away his shock just as they arrive at the patio steps of the tailor’s house. “You would allow me that honour?”

The Omega shrugs on his way up, following closely after Harry and having Edward at his back. “Well, you dress so elegantly all the time. I think if anyone can make a decent outfit for tomorrow night, it’ll be you.”

The young lady they are introduced to is named Melissa and assures them that she would be honoured to design appropriate clothes for tomorrow. Louis finds a spot on her sofa and makes himself comfortable amongst the mess of fabric while his Alpha speaks with Melissa. Edward is beside him and they look equally enthralled with her plans for their clothing while Louis commends himself on passing on the responsibility to his mate’s brother.

This cottage is quaint and all through the night makes little sounds as it settles in. There are miscellaneous materials from velvet to wool, and all the little adornments that must go with it. The floor is nearly hidden entirely by rolls of fabric and discarded sequins but Louis loves the overall homely ambiance presented to anyone who visited it. Louis is falling asleep and left uninterrupted because Harry knows any details about his measurements, and by three hours after dawn everyone has given in to slumber except Edward who merely lies stiffly on the floor with his eyes closed. Harry’s head is in Louis’ lap while the Omega is curled up at one end of the couch, his right arm draped limply over the edge for Edward’s entertainment.

When the sun comes up and the larks conclude their melodious attack on the senses, Edward cracks an eye open to face the day. Standing in the middle of the room next to the battered mannequins on which their newest wardrobe contributes are draped, is Samuel. Harry is more of the proactively aggressive brother but Edward preferred to ascertain whether the threat is absolute first.

“My pack has been coming to me all night with questions about you.” The pack Alpha says, crossing his burly arms over his chest while none of his stern expression softened. “They don’t feel secure with a bloodsucker in their midst.”

Edward picks his weight off the floor and sits up with his side against the couch, grabbing hold of Louis’ twitching fingers. “Alpha Samuel, I apologise for causing any kind of unrest among your wolves but I am not the threat here.”

“I told them exactly that.” Samuel offers a hand to the vampire, who accepts even though he has no immediate desire to wake up from the ground. To reject a proposal of equal recognition is to foolishly deny an Alpha’s allegiance – an unthinkable dishonour. “A word of my advice, vampire Edward, do not give the less disciplined members of this pack a reason to target you. They have enough to fear as it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update (so hyped for the ball) will be up soon. Tell your friends!


	7. VII

Louis sits back on his haunches and runs a soothing hand over his slightly protruding belly, so lost in thought that the commotion of this little cottage home he is none the wiser to. Outside, Mother Nature has tossed out grey clouds like barrels of bullets in the form of silver rain that is eager to hit the ground. It’s a day for tragedy and nothing has begun yet.

Samuel’s pack is busy between their regular chores for the day or what they’ve been pulled aside for otherwise. The Alpha is present when food is brought to feed their guests and only leaves when Jo asks him to. No weapons will be allowed into the ball so neither of them who plan to attend bothers with the demeaning back-up of arms.

“Little one.” Harry comes to Louis’ side after hours of straying from it. He leans in close to his mate, nuzzling the warmest scent he’s ever known. “You’re going to be the bravest one from us all tonight.”

Louis smiles and nips at his Alpha’s earlobe after effectively curling around him. “I’ll be looking for you to bring me home when this is over.”

Edward has given his fangs no coverage all day and when Louis finally decided to let go of his own morose behaviour to take charge of something, the vampire mockingly applauds him. Louis warningly glares at the immortal’s audacity before placing a hand on his delicately sore back and beginning his inspection. He complains about the loose silk sleeves of his dress shirt and the horrid fact that it will not conceal his behind under a coat, but seeing the cape Edward plans to don silences all his fussing.

The typical – damn near _stereotypical_ – vampire article of clothing has Louis trying his hardest not to burst into tears of laughter or blush at how suited it is to a character like Edward. All he wears will be the deepest black except for the coat’s inner lining, which is stark red. It’s crushed velvet with the slightest glimmer and in Harry’s eye, entirely unnecessary. Nonetheless, Louis loves it and claps when Edward offers a gracious bow in it.

“What are you wearing, huh?” Louis raises a challenging brow to his contemptuous other half that has not moved from leaning against an illustrated pillar.

Harry meets Louis’ eye with a smouldering look. “This is not a fashion show. It’s not important what we wear.”

“ _Au contrair_ , brother. We will be in the company of our foe and whom they wish to impress. If there is ever to a time to cause heartbreak, it is now.” Edward folded his cape over his arm and raked a hand through his freshly shampooed hair. “Your mate is not so pleased with the pink shirt we have put him in, Louis. I believe that is the root of his anger.”

 _“Pink?”_ Louis all but shrieks, wiggling his fingers in Harry’s direction. “I need to see it now please.”

“No.” Harry sighs. He pushes off the wall and comes to lift Louis off his perch. “It’s time you and my pup took a bath.”

After his shared shower in Melissa’s guestroom, Louis aids his Alpha in the shampooing of his hair by sitting on the lip of the tub in a towel and running the foaming substance through Harry’s curls. His mate sat on the floor between his legs rather than a low stool on which his limbs would overflow, sometimes kissing Louis’ inner thigh to entertain himself.

“Did you see the silver streak in Edward’s hair?” Louis asks casually, recalling the vampire’s most recent body modification. He’d taken enough of his hair at his temple to make the change visible and dyed it dim silver that ended up looking deliciously appealing.

Humming, Harry pressed his cheek to Louis’ leg when his hair was rinsed out. “He asked me to do it as well.”

“You should.” Louis asserts. “Please?”

“Little one.” Harry growls, sinking his teeth into Louis’ soft flesh. “My brother and you seem to think I am an experiment for style at a time that could not be more inappropriate.”

Louis squeezes the extra moisture out of Harry’s dripping hair by threading his fingers through the locks of deep chocolate curls, and pressing a kiss to his Alpha’s forehead. “It would show unity where it could not be needed more.”

At some point after Louis leaves to dry himself off and make final adjustments to his outfit, Edward wanders with suspiciously perfect timing into the bathroom where Harry closed himself off. He says nothing immediately after being discovered standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and just his pale streak of hair free from the tie he’s bound the others to. Harry was sitting on the spot Louis had occupied earlier with a pair of scissors in his hands and half the damp curls gone. His shed hair lay in ruins on his lap while what remains were in poor art.

“You certainly are a tragedy sometimes, brother.” Edward walks in without invitation and seals the door again.

Harry does not appreciate the condescension but he says nothing when his sibling takes the scissors and nudges him off the tub. Edward is tall enough to not demand that the Alpha sits while he neatens the disaster Harry created, snipping off the lengthy curls in silence. Tension grows to be so thick in the air surrounding them that one could slice through it with blunt force. While time wears on, Harry leans forward with his arms braced against the bathroom basin and his muscles bulging from the strain of remaining upright.

“Why the makeover, brother?” Edward finally asks when his job is done but neither of them wants to address it.

Harry is staring so intently at the drain of the sink that he might crack the porcelain with sheer force of will. He’s got the slightest tremble to his limbs and torso, water rolling over face and falling in small bullets to the bowl. “Get Louis.”

“Is there something you need I can’t provide?”

 _“Yes.”_ Harry snarls at the taunt, his head snapping up from its stiff bow and momentarily staring at his marred reflection. He feels the basin dangerously near the border of cracking as pent up infuriation seeps into his tendons as they flex over the contrasting cool ceramic object. Something triggers a split in him and he sees it reflected back at him in the mirror, along with a dark glance at Edward. “Why did it have to be silver?”

Rain begins to pelt the sides of the house when midday passes and they need to get ready more finally. Harry and Edward emerge from the guestroom, both with silver streaks originating from the far left of their hairlines to the tips of their hair length – Harry’s of which is no longer grazing his shoulders. A curt look from Edward convinces Louis to not question his Alpha on his cut and dyed hair when the man retires to stand between his thighs, sighing into the Omega’s neck.

Samuel had walked in from the furious rain outside and shook the water out of his hair in a way that made Jo shriek in horror. “I don’t believe any more delays can be allowed. The ball starts in two hours.”

*    *    *    *    *

Louis fitted rather snugly into his clothes for the night and while Melissa tucked the tricky hem of his shirt into the waistband of his dusky trousers, the Omega was tying together the ruffled collar of Harry’s rouge pink shirt. It billowed out around him before being restrained also by the belt of his skin tight bottoms that were almost entirely hidden under his leather thigh-high boots. Edward had a matching pair of the footwear but his had outstanding gold buckles on the outer sides that were buttoned into a functional seam of his pants.

Harry’s shirt was – no surprise – pure silk and printed with odd floral designs from collar to sleeves. At the chest it was open save for a single thread running over his naked torso to tie the two ends loosely together. Edward’s upper half was modest – draped in a sheer black shirt that left nothing to the imagination – and all conducive to the sight of his cape. Louis however, is meant to be the showstopper and while he thought outdoing the Styles brothers would be impossible, somehow Melissa and Edward managed it.

His top came in two portions and had to be connected on his person. The sleeves that ran down to his wrists and open collar were a single component of soft unidentified fabric, fitting his chest and shoulderblades like a glove. Melissa brought the second piece that was a satin dream already sewn to fit his abdomen and waist; the material started as plain white at his pectorals and drained into the deepest red at his hips. After the shirt was assembled on him, his pants were discovered to be continuous with his upper half and were maroon all the way down to his ankles in a sinfully elegant fit of his legs. Instead of a zipper the waistband was elasticated cotton to accommodate his bump but none who weren’t there for the conjuration would know that.

Atop Louis’ strenuous clothing assembly Melissa sat him down to smear then dust something on his cheeks that made his cheekbones prominent enough in a dusky shimmer. She swept a thin line of kohl on his eyes to make his eyes brilliant against his skin and left with an accomplished cheer.

Edward and Harry were already waiting in the stalling SUV for him to run out, and after the door slamming shut behind him Louis saw two stunned men scorching holes into his skin with their stares. Louis knew he had to look impressive for tonight but he was no less confused at Harry’s slightly parted lips and Edward’s unblinking eyelids.

“What?” He flicked water droplets out of hair and checked that nothing had marred the articulately crafted cloth. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” Harry clears his throat and notices Edward’s unrelenting attentiveness which he has to rectify by elbowing his sibling with enough strength to make the vampire hiss.

Liam is driving like a first grade maniac through the dirt road until Louis grows flustered enough to reach back and pull on the Alpha’s sleeve, demanding he slow down to accommodate time for him to possibly bring up all he’s eaten today. Meanwhile, Harry is rehashing the dire details of their plan with Edward and Louis as he will most likely not be present near enough during the execution.

Louis felt the road turn away from gravel to tar and his heart pounded in his chest, each time causing a strain all through his system that made his ears ring and fingers tremble. The closer they get to this venue the nearer he is to Marcus, the hybrid who does not expect he will be attending. In this moment Louis cannot think of a word he will be satisfied saying if they come face-to-face tonight, but the thought of preparing caused his palms to clam up.

Outside the treeline is blurring and receding as daylight crept beyond the horizon now to foreign territories with their own horrors to contend. Louis wonders if tonight will make any discernable change to their future; he knows he will do his utmost best to bargain for a better tomorrow but if the slightest disaster comes to be everything falls apart.

Louis thinks of the Omegas losing their dignity everyday as breeders and the others of their race confined in chambers for whatever cruel treatment is deemed theirs to endure. He feels pity and pain at their suffering but deep down he knows the reason for volunteering is inside him in a developing foetus that deserves the finest this world has to offer.

He wonders who the unfortunate seventeenth mate of Marcus is, and why they imagine they’ll be the one to turn him around. Louis frowns at the waywardness of his thoughts; the inner dealings of Marcus and his mate have nothing to do with him and should not impact his determination tonight.

Nerves creep up his spine with prickly appendages that jab at Louis’ anxiety as the SUV hits a pebbled surface and comes to a halt in front of grand iron gates. He grinds his jaw at the thought that these monsters had time to construct a mansion – fitted with a ballroom – while their wolves were imposed upon. Someone who resumes the post of guard takes the invitation from Liam and immediately glances up at the guests in the back. He is wolf and just the slightest of nods completes his greeting before he steps away to let them in, still staring.

“What’s wrong with him?” Louis asks quizzically to no one in particular.

Harry is the one to answer. “He knows who we are.”

The mansion is three levels closer to the sky than blood-stained ground upon which it sat. It extended for miles on either side and had balconies at each window, complemented by French doors and a potted plant. Solid, carved stone formed the pale exterior of the house all the way up to a beige roof of neatly aligned tiles. Beyond the entrance gates were yards of empty, lush green lawn. This house is the epitome of wealth and exceptional politics that had no place in this world.

Had the darkness been hiding Harry’s silhouette, Louis might not have seen his rage unfurl in the possessed green of his eyes. It was not jealousy as the Alpha did not want this life for himself but instead it was his reprieve from the horrific realisation that the man who raised him is a deranged, unworthy leader. It was murder that overtook Harry’s gaze and Louis reached across to take his hand, catching the Alpha’s eye.

“We’re going to make this right.” He promised, not withdrawing until some humanity resurfaced in his mate.

Liam stopped at the entrance where a carpet was laid out to welcome each arrival. Already, the chatter and clinking of glasses could be heard. Edward got off first and his hair fell forward to cover the scarred half of his face like a well-practiced curtain act. They had to separate at the doors and Harry made a small grumble of sufferance before going in another direction which plunged him into the throng of exclusive bodies.

Inside was magical and Louis almost lost himself in the intricacy of this architecture. The ceiling was well into the third floor as predicted and covered in a mural of the clouds with lightning bolts amidst them. Chandeliers hung low and sparkled hypnotically in their reflection on the waxed porcelain floors. A staircase of exceedingly notable width was covered in a red carpet that spilled out onto the tile, and was held together at the side by arched golden railways.

Everyone in attendance was extravagant even in this time of struggling and held their champagne flutes like alcohol was no more a rarity. Gowns on lush women and tuxedos on men, all colours and degrees of risqué but still each in their prime. Edward was right.

Edward’s arm roped around Louis’ waist to keep him close and brought his lips to the Omega’s ear. “Show time, sweet wolf.”

Soft Latin music from a forgotten generation fills the space above their heads and travels with servers between the crowd to reach people’s palates. Louis cringes at the awful façade these fortunate imbecils choose to fabricate for self-indulgence.

“Come.” Edward takes Louis closer to the centre of the room where couples are dancing, letting his hand glide down the Omega’s arm to lace their fingers together. “You must dance to get that hatred out of your eye.”

Louis would refuse had he not been in full agreement, and let his companion pull him into the twirling circle formation of dancers. Somehow everyone was casual and unprepared but managed not to sabotage the ensemble. Edward tightened his arm around Louis’ back and felt his partner lean into him, trusting the vampire to disguise him while he pulled on a pleasant mask.

“How do they do this?” Louis’ cerulean orbs pulsed with conflict but he expertly hid other visible disdain.

Taking advantage of their privacy, Edward pressed his lips to Louis’ forehead without faltering in his suave footing. “They breathe it, sweet Louis, so that the dreadfulness of their actions never dawns on them.”

Louis took a deep breath and scanned the room over Edward’s shoulder, but it seems like no familiar faces have surfaced. “He’s not here yet.”

“None of them are.” Edward nearly bites through his lip to keep from shuddering at Louis’ hands sliding over his chest, stopping at his waist. “May I compliment you without the threat of your or my brother’s wrath?”

Something like a breathless giggle comes from the beautiful Omega. “If you know it’ll make him angry then why do you do it?”

“Some risks are worth the promise of pain.” Edward reaches up to brush his knuckles over Louis’ cheek, seeing a faint glimmer of something in the Omega’s focus before he bends forward and rests his forehead on Louis’. His eyes are closed when he speaks and he brings them to a halt at the concluding crescendo of music. “You hail from my dreams tonight, sweet Louis, and this beauty does not originate in what Melissa provided.”

Applause breaks out before Louis can fully recover from the blush warming his cheeks, sure that even through cosmetics his flattery is visible. Edward spins him around with secure hands on Louis’ hips, directing him to the reason for this interruption. Louis’ breath catches in his throat at the same time that his mind goes into overdrive, slowing down time when the _family_ owning this massive estate walks out at the apex of the staircase, decked out glamorously to receive their guests. Louis wants to commend Edward on bringing them towards the forefront of the crowd so he is not disadvantaged in his height but prevalent need to see the arriving party.

First is the cause of everyone’s petrifying affliction, the father of Louis’ mate and he who is using Louis presently for a sense of grounding. Through his chest, the Omega senses his Alpha’s disdain and ire like bitterness on his a tongue. He steps out from behind the corridor that led them here from whatever royal chambers they were housed in otherwise, having the brothers’ mother on his arm looking as festive as she always does.

Desmond – Louis has known Harry’s father’s name for as long as he’s known the man but never thought it respectful to use – is donning a prim coal black suit complete with a tail on his coat and tie that matches the rose gold of his mate’s – Anne – glittery gown. Their commitment to an outfit outshone their devotion to morality and it made Louis sick, while he noticed that Edward had turned to stone at his back.

“Hey.” Louis finds Edward’s ice cold wrists and tugs gently to have those wide-blown sable orbs focusing on him. “Stay with me.”

He cannot fathom what it must be like for Edward to see his parents for probably the first time since he’s been of comprehensible age. This is the man that punished his son for something he could help, and the woman who did nothing to prevent it. Louis feels the need to comfort him even now but has to suppress those courteous instincts for a time when their purpose is accomplished.

Desmond and Anne are followed by the couple everyone is here to see, and Louis is just about pulling away from Edward when he senses _him._ The same chill caresses his spine from base to apex, curls around his throat and passes a kiss to his cheek before dissipating. Louis shudders from it and before Edward can theorise on his strange reaction to something absent, he too is drawn to the newest arrivals.

Marcus steps out and sets a hush over the room to the farthest reaches. He has an air about him that is born in him, exuding in hidden doses the dominance packed into his body and soul. The youngest Styles wore half a mask, pitch black and printed on with a sliver of purple in the shape of a flower from temple to jaw. Marcus’ suit was miraculously well designed and did not strain at the seams with his hefty build; but there was something off about him when Louis zeroed in on his throat. The skin looked flushed and slightly distorted but the distance between them made a definitive answer impossible.

Hundreds of eyes lingered on him until his mate – the one whom this ball is in honour of – glides out of hiding in a trailing gown that does nothing to match Marcus’ apparel. She is gorgeous if anyone had to guess and her lack of a mask made her sculpted, delicate facial structure visible for all to gawk at. Her height put her at Marcus’ shoulder while the latter matched his brothers’ excess over six feet above the ground. She had on a smile to rival anyone’s in a moment of publicity, and it fell the second Marcus wound his arm around her waist. Louis wished he wasn’t so surprised by her fear of him.

He looks away from her putrid replacement of a beam and stopped dead when Marcus was staring back at him unwavering, evidently no struggle in his gaze. Louis’ breath hitched on the way down as the intensity of those black smoke orbs narrowed on him, a tick in Marcus’ jaw signalling his obvious unrest. The man’s fingers flexed on his companion’s hip and he fought not to shift his weight, but also not relenting in this minor connection with Louis.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” Desmond’s voice needed no amplification as everyone settled to drink in his blasphemy. He had a hand tucked into his pants pocket and a glass of bubbling gold in the other. “We bring you into our home tonight to introduce the man set to be the most competent leader of our new world. My son, Marcus, and his mate, Ava.”

At first, there is no sound of response from the crowd and Louis didn’t realise he was holding his breath until Edward squeezed his waist. He clung to the vampire like the ground might slide out from beneath his feet and he could not have been the only one when a stranger amidst the mass of groomed bodies spoke against the tide, against his own survival.

“What happened to Alpha Harry?!”

No one knows who says it because the voice could have come from any corner in the room, and sounded like a daring male with the slightest whistle to his voice. Torn between where to look, Edward searches the room and its occupants but Louis is trying with all his might to hide his panic for this person. Marcus coaxes him to look up without sight or sound, just disembodied touch, but Louis refuses until he is certain his feelings are hidden.

Desmond wears his chuckle like a demonic weapon that is more dangerous than any glare. He swirls the contents of his glass before taking a sip and finding the perpetrator in one attempt. He speaks directly to them, then to the guards at their back. “We have all suffered losses in this transition, and we will continue to do so.”

“No.” Louis breathes, audible only to Edward until the vampire smothers him to his chest and prevents others from noticing Louis. Marcus’ hold on Louis is shattered with an anguished roar that rings only in Louis’ ear when he closes his eyes against Edward’s chest.

After the offending party is removed by means that none of the glamorous fortunate persons want to acknowledge, Desmond seems to find peace. He returns to his usual expression of a guiltless mercenary. “Enjoy the celebrations, everyone. This is the first of many commemorative parties we hope to see you, few of the first, attending later.”

It seems that everyone prepared themselves for dispersal and immediate ignorance of someone who was taken from the company for unspoken penalties. As soon as Desmond concludes his heartless speech, he and his recognised equals begin descending the staircase. Louis frees himself from Edward’s hold for the split-second it takes Marcus to step in front of his father, and the whole room plummets.

Just like before every beating heart freezes and takes time down with it until just two souls remain conscious in their minds. Marcus has his eyes set on Louis and his pace only quickens after a shift from present to a lapse in time, hitting the final step when Louis slams into his chest with the force of his brief sprint.

“ _Why, darling?_ ” Marcus brought his hand up, cradling the back of Louis’ skull and breathing in the Omega’s compelling scent from the source at his jugular. “Why are you here?”

Louis curls his fingers into Marcus’ jacket, listening to the scrape of exquisite fabric under his nails, and tries to step away but is burdened by the dominant’s arms restricting around him. He sees the closest visual of Marcus’ throat anyone could ever have and feels something die in him at the sight of healed cuts. They’re running from ear to ear, splitting flesh almost to the bone each time, and formed a sickening choker for the Alpha. Each streak was pink and ragged, done by someone who knew they would not feel an inch of the pain.

“What did they do to you?” Louis rests his hands on the hybrid’s throat, running his thumb over the jagged flesh. He heard a crack in his own voice and didn’t bother hiding it like so much else. “Did they do this to you?”

Marcus captured the side of Louis’ face and redirected those sapphires to him, bringing his forehead to rest on the Omega’s. That ghastly inner beast stirred at the familiarity it recognised with this beautiful submissive; it pushed up from its lounging position and turned attentive. “You need to leave, darling. He knows you’ve come and what for.”

“We expected him to find out.” Louis held on to Marcus’ wrist, staring into two darkening coals and could almost witness the beast’s unfurling. It’s tail brushed the floor on each swing and its head turned to Louis, peering out curiously. “Marcus, you have to tell me. What are they doing to the wolves they’re taking from other packs?”

“Trying to make more wolves like me which takes away their wolves entirely.” Marcus sighs, rolling his shoulders to ease their stiffness and steps away to bring distance between them. “No one has survived even with my blood to aid them.”

“Is that the reason for your cuts?” Louis folds his arms over his chest. “You’ve been doing that to yourself?”

“I have to, darling.” Marcus peels off his mask and hurls it at the staircase banister, a growl emanating from his torso to echo off stone walls. “No one here is going to pity them if I don’t.”

“It’s not pity because you did something about it. You helped them.”

Louis watched Marcus fit himself onto the third step with his limbs spilling over, his elbows set on his knees. The mask was ruined at his side, cracked in two on the floor. “As long as they don’t see me with you or my brothers, I will be in power soon enough to end all this.”

“Will Desmond let that happen?” Louis takes a cautious step forward.

“He believes I am his loyal heir who agrees with every twisted theory he has.” Marcus reaches out without hesitation and brings Louis closer to him, between his legs. “My father has spent twenty-eight years between his love for a crown and his need for my help to get it. When the time comes, darling, I’m going to see this through.”

Louis lets himself be held after those words leave Marcus’ lips; none can deny the raw ferocity with which it was spoken. A man spends his life being tortured for experimentation and now sees other undeserving souls being battered into the same cruelty. There cannot be an ounce of Marcus that is not vengeful and thirsty for a justice he has to execute in their name. All they have to do is wait.

“Ava’s pregnant.” Marcus echoes and the words haunt Louis, initiating his dread in full force. He becomes tense all over and experiences an unwelcome charge of pure anger. The Alpha holding onto him feels those sudden changes and grovels for Louis’ attention, his forgiveness. “I didn’t touch her, I swear to you.”

“How?” Louis whispers, surprising them both by the swiftness of his actions that follow. He grasps Marcus’ wrists for balance and lowers his weight onto the Alpha’s thighs, taken over by a keen sense of ease that seems to originate in the brothers. “How can she be pregnant?”

Marcus refrains from questioning it but his beast purrs with approval. Neither of them wants Louis to move away before they’ve gotten their fix. “She accused me of attacking her when I looked to be in another mind.”

“Is that possible?”

The shake of Marcus’ head is wary, his eyes taking on an unreadable darkness. “It isn’t. If I may speak bluntly with you, Louis?”

“Okay.” The Omega chews his lip.

“Of all the features my father managed to improve about me, my knot is the failing one.” Marcus depicts no shame in the topic and Louis is glad to see his own customary shade of juvenile behaviour is at bay. “I feel as though it’s not worth using when my _mates_ have more to contend with.”

Louis cannot possibly know what it’s like to be an Alpha with this dilemma and for that reason wishes Harry were here. He stops stroking Marcus’ jaw when he realises he’s doing it, frowning at the lapse of judgement. “When this is over and hopefully it is soon, you can find someone to change that.”

“It will be soon, darling.” Marcus vows determinedly. “We must go back now. Edward can only hold your lax form for so long.”

“We’re going to leave as soon we’re back.” Louis informs him, looking back briefly at the still crowd in their ridiculous faux festivities. “We will not see each other until this comes to a head.”

“I know.”

Louis braves the moment and obliges when his inner Omega ponders the consequences for one act. He needs the Alpha to be brave and by any means necessary, so Louis frames Marcus’ face with a crumpled expression and connects their lips. Something illicit sparked in the union that made Marcus’ leering beast howl in longing but victory, pulling Louis’ arms around his shoulders for an adjusted angle. He nibbled on the Omega’s bottom lip and deepened their kiss with a flick of his tongue across Louis’. When Louis tears himself away and stands, Marcus follows stupidly until he remembers the present that awaits them.

He bends down close to nip at Louis’ cheek, bidding his adieu. “Goodbye, darling.”

When Marcus allows the tidal wave to extinguish their illusions and he fears regret in Louis’ eye, the Omega returns his farewell kiss. “Bye, Marcus.”

**Author's Note:**

> And? o.O What do you think? Talk to me o.O


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